It’s a wrap: News this week (June 8 – June 14)

There have been multiple developments this week on the tech front. From Apple WWDC to GitHub CEO’s India visit, this is the list of the most important developments for a quick catch-up:

Apple WWDC 2024

Apple CEO Tim Cook, on Monday, introduced a series of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) products and services at the company’s annual developer conference, WWDC. These include a new system called “Apple Intelligence”. 

The highlight of the event came during the keynote, where Apple confirmed its partnership with OpenAI. This collaboration will bring ChatGPT technology to a new version of Siri, the voice assistant. The updated Siri will function as an AI chatbot, able to receive written instructions and take actions within apps based on voice prompts. Siri will also be able to search through emails, texts, and photos to find specific information. 

Snapdeal-Bhashini deal

Online shopping company Snapdeal has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bhashini, an Indic language initiative under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The deal aims at developing services and products focused on language translation efforts and promote digital inclusion by catering to nine vernacular languages.

Indian developers on GitHub

During his recent visit to India, Thomas Dohmke, the chief executive officer (CEO) said that the platform has close to 15.5 million Indian developers on its platform, making it the second largest in the world, growing 33% year-over-year (YoY). The company’s estimates show that the Indian developer community on the platform will surpass the US by 2027. 

Commenting on India's pain points, particularly for AI innovation, Dohmke spoke about two challenges. He said that there is a lack of regularisation where the government is still identifying the impact of the technology. He also highlighted the need for harmonisation of AI acts across regions in the world so that everyone derives the same benefit from the technology. “Clear regulations would help both buyers and sellers of AI.” Secondly, Dohmke said that there are not enough private capital funds for AI companies, especially when compared with Silicon Valley. He also highlighted the need for more research funding in AI.

TCS launches IoT lab in Ohio

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), announced on Tuesday the launch of a new Internet of Things (IoT) engineering lab in the US. The lab, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, is designed to support rapid prototyping, experimentation, and large-scale implementation of AI, Gen AI, and IoT engineering solutions. This will enable TCS to assist clients in bringing innovative solutions to life faster and more efficiently.

HCLTech-Olympus expand partnership

HCLTech and Olympus Corporation, a MedTech firm, have announced the expansion of their partnership. This collaboration aims to enhance healthcare through advanced engineering technologies. 

The partnership focuses on Olympus’ global product development by leveraging HCLTech’s Engineering and R&D services and artificial intelligence (AI)-based solutions. This approach is designed to provide speed and scale to Olympus' operations. 

Tata Comm-World Athletics partnership

Tata Communications signed a five-year global television contract with the World Athletics, the governing body of international sports. The collaboration is aimed at becoming Tata Communication’s strategic partner from 2025 to enhance its innovation and engage more audiences in World Athletics events. Tata Communications will leverage on its expertise to deliver live personalised quality content to broadcasters globally

Ashwini Vaishnaw takes charge as IT minister

This week Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw took charge of the Ministry of Electronics and IT for one more term. Along with MeitY, the ex-bureaucrat has been given the charge for two more portfolios — Railways and the Information and Broadcast Ministry. 

Additionally, Jitin Prasada has been appointed the Union minister of state for electronics and information technology. Prasada will be succeeding Rajeev Chandrasekhar.