One quick thing: HCLTech, Wipro see headcount drop by over 11,000 in Q1

In today’s newsletter:

• SoftBank's massive Paytm cashback
• Meta eyes 80K enterprise VR subs 
• DPDP bill puts users ahead of platforms

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Paytm par $200 million prapt hue. This is how Paytm’s sound box must have buzzed today at SoftBank’s office. 

What’s the reason behind this? Over the past two months, the Japanese investor has been selling shares of Paytm’s parent in the open market, raking in $200 million.

• But here's the kicker: This is the first time SoftBank has managed to unload Paytm's stock at a price that surpasses its original cost

Paytm's stock price has surged above the Rs 830-840 range in the last two months, making it a profitable bet for SoftBank, which invested at around Rs 830 previously.

• SoftBank has invested $1.6 billion in Paytm to date, and with today’s sale, has already recouped about $900 million

• SoftBank’s stake in the fintech major has now fallen below 10%

While SoftBank has not made any new investments in India recently, the Japanese investor has been actively monetising its existing investments via stake sales.

• In November 2022, it sold stakes in Paytm and PB Fintech (Policybazaar Parent), after the one-year lock-in period ended

• In May 2023, it sold about 2% stake in Paytm, netting about $120 million

• In June, the Japanese investor raked in $60-70 million by selling a small stake in eyewear unicorn Lenskart to ChrysCapital

• SoftBank is also looking to sell a stake in Zomato in the open market 

The metaverse is no longer the hottest thing on the block, but social networking giant Meta is still betting big on it. (After all, they renamed themselves to show their commitment to the tech. Wouldn’t you do the same?)

Facebook parent Meta has set an internal target of clocking 80,000 paid subscribers for Quest for Business, its VR subscription service for enterprises, by the end of this year, as per an internal memo by chief product officer Chris Cox.

• The service is currently available in select countries and is expected to be launched worldwide in October 2023

Why does it matter? For the company's metaverse vision to succeed, increased adoption at the workplace is crucial. Especially at a time when interest in the futuristic immersive technology appears to be waning.

• It also comes at a time when another tech giant has entered the space, with Apple launching its mixed reality headset, Vision Pro

With AI going mainstream, Meta expects regulatory debate around AI safeguards to intensify in the coming months, Cox noted in the memo.

• Safeguarding young users on Meta's products across the world is also becoming an increasingly hot-button issue, he said

Meta also aims to move towards a future where all chats on Instagram are end-to-end encrypted (E2EE), similar to WhatsApp, a person familiar with the development told us.

After a blockbuster start, Instagram's Twitter rival Threads is now expectedly seeing a decline in usage. However, co-founder Mark Zuckerberg struck an optimistic note, claiming that tens of millions of people are returning to the app every day.

"The focus for the rest of the year is improving the basics and retention. It'll take time to stabilise, but once we nail that then we'll focus on growing the community," he said.

Are you concerned about your privacy?

If you’re like most people, you’ve probably given up a lot of personal information to data fiduciaries like social media platforms. And while you may have the option to delete your data, these firms could still keep some of it.

Why? That’s because the draft Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill 2022 allows data fiduciaries to store anonymised data even after you’ve requested them to delete it

But we have some good news for you. We’ve learned that this may not continue for long.

In the revamped DPDP Bill, the Union government is likely to expand the scope of deleting user data stored with platforms to include all parameters, not just personal data.

• The bill recently received assent from the Union Cabinet and is expected to be tabled in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament

This comes after the specific clause pertaining to user data erasure in the 2022 draft of the DPDP Bill received widespread criticism from civil society organisations.

• Bodies like CUTS-CCIER had written to the government asking them to amend this particular clause in the bill

Go deeper

On July 18, 1968, Intel was established by semiconductor pioneers Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, both of whom had previously worked at Fairchild Semiconductor. 

Quick trivia: Initially named "NM Electronics" after Noyce and Moore, the company later acquired the rights to the name "Intel," derived from Integrated Electronics, from a company known as Intelco.

• AI will wipe out most outsourced programming jobs in India within the next year or two, Stability AI CEO Emad Mostaque said.

• Website builder Wix will soon allow users to build entire websites using only AI prompts. The company is using a mix of ChatGPT and its own tools to achieve this. 

• Infosys has bagged a five-year AI deal with an existing customer with a total spend estimated at $2 billion over 5 years.

Do you ever think you know the story, but then you learn something that makes you realise you were wrong? 

That's the premise of the You're Wrong About podcast, hosted by journalists Michael Hobbes and Sarah Marshall.

In each episode, they take a look at a well-known event or figure and challenge the conventional wisdom. They've covered everything from Princess Diana to Monica Lewinsky to the history of the Beatles.

Check it out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

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