One quick thing: Tata plans new iPhone factory to hasten Apple’s India expansion

In today’s newsletter: 

• RBI hikes UPI payment limits for education, healthcare
• Wipro rejigs growth organisation 
• Is Google’s Gemini as good as it claims to be?

P.S: Four women, a bike road trip, and Ladakh – you don't want to miss this week's binge pick. Scroll below for more deets!

Was this newsletter forwarded to you? You can sign up for Tech3 here

Increasingly, the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting has become a forum where various fintech initiatives, including new features for the country's most popular mobile payments platform UPI, are announced.

For most UPI transactions, the maximum limit for a single transaction is Rs 1 lakh. However, this limit has now been raised to Rs 5 lakh for recognised merchants such as educational institutions and hospitals.

• It's important to note that banks usually set the daily transaction limit for customers using UPI, which is typically below Rs 2 lakh per day

The regulator is also looking to regulate the online aggregation of loan products. 

• This move is likely aimed at increasing transparency regarding processing fees, late charges, and interest rates on credit products sold digitally

Additionally, the central bank is considering setting up a fintech repository, which would serve as a platform for collaboration and discussion among all stakeholders in the fintech ecosystem.

The RBI is also setting up a cloud facility for the domestic storage of all fintech data, including the financial data of Indian citizens. 

"This will enhance data security, integrity, and privacy. It is intended to be rolled out in a calibrated manner over the medium term," RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said.

As 2023 draws to a close, IT services giant Wipro has just announced its tenth top-level exit of the year, alongside a crucial internal restructuring.

Wipro is making significant changes to its Chief Growth Office (CGO), with Stephanie Trautman stepping down as Chief Growth Officer effective December 31, 2023. 

• This move is part of a larger restructuring effort that will see the CGO's Strategic Pursuits team integrated into the company's Strategic Market Units
  
  
• Trautman's exit comes shortly after Jatin Dalal stepped down as Wipro's CFO in September 

These top-level exits come at a time when Wipro faces a challenging market environment. 

• The company's revenue has declined for three consecutive quarters

Midcap IT services company Persistent Systems is eyeing an acquisition of NSEIT, the wholly-owned IT services arm of the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

• This follows the NSE's management announcement earlier this year that it is seeking to de-clutter its management bandwidth from non-core businesses

NSEIT offers digital examination and edtech solutions, cybersecurity, RPA, testing, cloud services, and large infrastructure management services to customers in the BFSI and capital markets sectors.

Find out more

The AI arms race is in full swing, and the latest contender, Google's Gemini, has just stepped into the ring. 

A contender that it claims outshines OpenAI's GPT-4. But is it as good as it claims? Let’s take a look.

Earlier this week, Google unveiled Gemini, its latest AI model, touted as the 'most capable.' 

• A multimodal system, Gemini flexes its muscles in handling text, code, audio, images, and video all at the same time
  
  
• Google also claimed that Gemini surpasses its rivals including GPT-4 on 30 out of 32 standard performance measures (However, the margins are narrow)

While the benchmark tests might seem impressive, a closer look at the company’s technical report reveals some discrepancies. 

• Google used different prompting techniques for Gemini and GPT-4

• Additionally, the version of GPT-4 tested was outdated

However, when tested under the same conditions, GPT-4 actually outperforms Gemini on some benchmarks.

Google's demo video highlighting Gemini's capabilities sparked excitement. 

• However, reports soon revealed that the video misrepresented the actual performance of the AI model

Google was caught off guard by the success of OpenAI's ChatGPT and GPT models (thanks to the Microsoft partnership). This set off a frantic year at the tech giant as it scrambled to productise its AI technologies and reclaim its crown as the leader in the nascent artificial intelligence space.

• Co-founder Sergey Brin, who stepped back in 2019, also started coming back to the company's offices to help build Gemini and is listed as a "core contributor" to the AI model 

Dig deeper

(P.S: Does all this AI stuff interest you?  If yes, you wouldn't want to miss out on the Palo Alto Networks presents CNBC TV18 & Moneycontrol Global AI Conclave on December 16 in Bengaluru. Check out the deets!)

• Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI is facing scrutiny from the UK's antitrust regulator.

• Meta has introduced a set of cybersecurity safety evaluations benchmarks for large language models as part of Purple Llama, an umbrella project that would feature open trust and safety tools and evaluations.

Four women set out for a road trip on their bikes to the world's highest motorable pass in Ladakh on a journey of self-discovery.

That's the story of Dhak Dhak, a movie that features actors such as Dia Mirza, Ratna Pathak Shah, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanjana Sanghi. Based on a true story, it's an endearing watch. Watch on Netflix

If you are in the mood for comedy, Zakir Khan, widely regarded as one of India's top comedians, has released a brand new standup special. 

• In his special, called Mannpasand, Khan recounts stories of his childhood friendships with boys, and adult relationships with girls. Watch on Amazon Prime Video

Want something a little more suspenseful? Then check out Kadak Singh, starring Pankaj Tripathi. Watch it on Zee5

Event alert: CNBC TV18 & Moneycontrol will be hosting the most definitive summit on Artificial Intelligence with top global and Indian voices on December 16th in Bengaluru. Click here to register and get access to the 'Palo Alto Networks presents CNBC-TV18 & Moneycontrol Global AI Conclave'.