One quick thing: ONDC has launched its own buyer app ‘DigiHaat’ to boost wider adoption of the network.

In today's newsletter:

• The new scam in town
• YouTube taps Flipkart for shopping push
• Dixon bets big on made-in-India laptops

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It's a lazy Sunday morning, you're scrolling through Instagram, and suddenly—there's Big B, flanked by two officers, with a shocking headline: "He revealed a secret on live air! Now his career is over!" It's eye-catching, but it's also a fraud.

Scammers are using fake celebrity stories to lure unsuspecting social media users into investment scams, across platforms such as Instagram, Threads and X (formerly Twitter)

• We recently found that images of Amitabh Bachchan, journalist Faye D’Souza and others were being abused to perpetrate possible investment scams.

These fake posts led to fabricated news websites hosting articles promoting a platform called 'Immediate 8.7 Alrex,' which promises effortless wealth.

• These scams exploit social media's ad targeting, making them appear more authentic and increasing their reach to specific demographics.

Our investigation found that these fraudulent platforms claim to offer brokerage services for cryptocurrency, forex, and CFDs (Contract for Difference) but lack any credible registration or regulatory backing.

• Users often find these fake investment websites vanish after collecting enough victims, leaving users with financial losses and limited recourse.

Meta claims it removes content violating its standards and has started testing facial recognition to help combat "celeb-bait" scams.

“We use automated and manual review processes to enforce our policies," a Meta spokesperson said.

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Image credit: Google Gemini

Ever seen an outfit in a YouTube video and wondered how you can get your hands on it? Now, there’s a way to do it.

YouTube has partnered with Walmart’s e-commerce platforms, Flipkart and Myntra, to further its shopping ambitions in India. 

• Eligible content creators on YouTube can tag and promote products on their videos allowing viewers to purchase items through links to Flipkart and Myntra

The platform will launch QR codes to make the shopping experience easier on connected televisions, YouTube’s Travis Katz told us. 

Creators get a commission on the sale of these products and its price

“The more products that their viewers buy, the higher their commission," Katz told us.

At present, creators will get 100% of the commission, but once the business scales, YouTube will take a share, he told us.

While this is new for India, YouTube has piloted this globally in Singapore, the US, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. 

• Globally there are over 2.5 lakh creators enrolled with YouTube’s Shopping programme

Dig deeper

Dixon Technologies, often hailed as India's answer to Foxconn, is betting big on contract manufacturing for laptops and notebooks

Dixon Technologies is targeting Rs 4,500-Rs 5,000 crore in revenue from laptop and notebook contract manufacturing in the next 2-3 years. 

• Dixon MD Atul Lall said they have onboarded four out of the top five global brands in India.

Lall mentioned that Indian contract manufacturers must develop both capability and cost competitiveness in the IT hardware sector. 

• This is crucial to prove to brands that they can meet the demands for cost, quality, and new product introductions, he said. 

India is reportedly expected to impose restrictions on imports of laptops, tablets, and personal computers after January, a move that could significantly alter the dynamics of the IT hardware market in India.

• A similar import restriction was withdrawn last year due to backlash from companies and lobbying efforts from the United States

Go deeper

• Infosys chairman and Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani remains steadfast in his vision of establishing India as the AI use-case capital of the world, rather than focusing on the hypercompetitive race of building LLMs.

• Sarvam AI has launched its LLM Sarvam 1, which is trained on 10 Indic languages and English. Meanwhile, Hanooman AI has also launched a multilingual and multimodal foundational LLM Everest 1.0.

• OpenAI reportedly plans to launch its next frontier model ‘Orion’ by December.

Food delivery apps have made our lives so much easier! But ever wondered what it’s like for the delivery partners grappling with ratings and incentives.

Zwigato, a movie directed by Nandita Das, aims to provide a peek into their lives. The Hindi-language film stars Kapil Sharma and Shahana Goswami. 

Watch on Prime Video

Prefer a thriller? Check out Do Patti, starring Kriti Sanon in a double role alongside Bollywood superstar Kajol. The movie also marks Sanon’s first production venture. Watch on Netflix

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