Author: PTI

Google-backed agriculture-tech startup Cropin announced a partnership with Walmart on Friday to provide scalable sourcing solutions across the multinational retail giant’s US and South American markets. The collaboration will see the Bengaluru-based startup’s agri-intelligence platform help optimise Walmart’s fresh produce supply chain by improving yield forecasting, monitoring crop health, and predicting seasonal transitions with greater accuracy, Cropin said in a statement. “We are currently in the pilot phase of our partnership with Walmart, leveraging Cropin’s technology to enhance product availability and reduce waste through predictive, real-time intelligence across specific crop value chains,” said Cropin founder and CEO Krishna Kumar. The…

American robotics companies are pushing for a national robotics strategy, including establishing a federal office focused on promoting the industry at a time when China is making intelligent robots a national priority. Representatives of companies — including Tesla, Boston Dynamics and Agility Robotics — on Wednesday met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to show off products and push for the United States to adopt policies that would boost American companies in a global race to develop the next generation of robots.Jeff Cardenas, co-founder and CEO of humanoid startup Apptronik, of Austin, Texas, pointed out to lawmakers that it was American carmaker General…

The Indian edtech sector is experiencing a surge in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) courses, mirroring global trends. As AI becomes central to upskilling, a growing number of learners — from seasoned professionals to school students — are eager to explore and experiment with technology.  BrightCHAMPS, an edtech firm that delivers learning courses to students in the K-12 segment, found that 58 per cent of students globally are already integrating AI into their studies. In comparison, 36 per cent of them use the technology for their homework. Ravi Bhushan, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of BrightCHAMPS told Business Standard…

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has teamed with Bengaluru-based Sarvam AI, an indigenous full-stack generative AI (GenAI) startup, to improve the user experience of Aadhaar services. Sarvam will implement the AI solution to execute voice-based interactions for resident-centric use cases under the agreement, which came into effect on March 18. This would help in getting near real-time feedback from Aadhaar number holders for their enrollment and update processes, including information regarding resident overcharging (if any). The agreement would also provide real-time fraud alerts to Aadhaar number holders if the AI detects anything unusual during authentication requests. This new AI solution deployment will…

Toyota Motor Corp. is setting up its first research and development center in India through its local unit, people familiar with the matter said, signaling the market’s growing importance. The new R&D facility will begin operations with a team of about 200 people in Bengaluru, near Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt.’s existing factory in Bidadi, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are private. The team will likely be scaled up to around 1,000 engineers by 2027, the person said. Representatives for Toyota Kirloskar Motor declined to comment. Toyota didn’t immediately respond to a request…

Bengaluru: Social media giant ‘X’ , owned by US billionaire Elon Musk, has filed a lawsuit in the Karnataka High Court against Government of India, challenging what it called unlawful content regulation and arbitrary censorship. It raised concerns over the Centre’s interpretation of the Information Technology Act, particularly its use of Section 79, which ‘X’ argues violates Supreme Court rulings and undermines free expression online. The lawsuit alleged the government is using the said section to create a parallel content-blocking mechanism, bypassing the structured legal process outlined in Section 69A. ‘X’ claimed this approach contradicts the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling…

A federal appeals court ruled that art created autonomously by artificial intelligence cannot be copyrighted, saying that at least initial human authorship is required for a copyright. The ruling Tuesday upheld a decision by the U.S. Copyright Office denying computer scientist Stephen Thaler a copyright for the painting “A Recent Entrance to Paradise.” The picture was created by Thaler’s AI platform, the “Creativity Machine.” The “Copyright Office’s longstanding rule requiring a human author … does not prohibit copyrighting work that was made by or with the assistance of artificial intelligence,” a three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said in its unanimous ruling. “The…

Google on Tuesday announced health-care updates to Search, including a way for people with specific health conditions to compare their experiences with others. The company unveiled a new feature called “What People Suggest,” which uses AI to pull together online commentary from patients with similar diagnoses. A patient with arthritis would be able to look up how other people with the condition approach exercise, for instance. The feature is available on mobile devices in the U.S., Google said. Google said it has also expanded its knowledge panels, or the information boxes that appear to the right of search results, to cover…

To address regulatory concerns and long-term strategy for the financial technology sector, the government has set up an inter-ministerial-industry committee on fintech (IMICF), which will be chaired by chaired by the secretary of the department of financial services (DFS). The committee will focus on how fintech has influenced the broader banking and financial services industry, identify obstacles that hinder growth, and analyse global best practices in governance and regulation, said the order issued on March 17. Moneycontrol has reviewed a copy of the order. “The key terms of reference (ToRs) of the Committee are as follows; to analyse the growth of…

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs on Tuesday announced a partnership with tech company Meta to launch a consumer awareness campaign called “Be an Empowered Consumer” aimed at enhancing digital literacy and protection for online consumers. The initiative, unveiled by Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan, will operate under the government’s existing “Jago Grahak Jago” (Wake Up Consumer) campaign framework, an official statement said. “Consumer awareness is key to a sustainable and secure digital experience,” Joshi said at the launch event, adding that the collaboration would extend the department’s consumer protection efforts to remote…