It’s a wrap: News this week (Dec 7 – Dec 13)

There have been multiple developments this week on the tech front. From major IT services deals to Google Gemini 2.0 launch, this is the list of the most important developments for a quick catch-up:

Datamatics subsidiary acquires TNQTech

Mumbai-based Lumina Datamatics has signed a definitive agreement to acquire publishing technology and services company TQNTech. Chennai-based TNQTech provides AI-based prepress publishing and software development services to leading international publishers of scientific, technology, and medical journals and books.

After the completion of the acquisition, TNQTech will become the step-down subsidiary of Lumina Datamatics’ parent Datamatics Global Services. The acquisition aims to strengthen Lumina Datamatics’ 6,500 employees globally and establish it as leaders in the digital content domain. It will help the company enhance its suite of AI-enabled technology and products used by some of the largest commercial publishers and marquee customers. 

Google launches Gemini 2.0 and Willow chip

Google introduced the next iteration of its generative AI model Gemini, on Wednesday. The Mountain View company calls Gemini 2.0 its most capable model to date. Google says that, along with its superior multimodal capabilities, this model will bring it closer to its vision of a universal assistant through AI agents. 

Google chief Sundar Pichai said in a blog that Gemini 2.0’s advances are a result of Google’s decade-long investments in its ‘differentiated full-stack approach to AI innovation’. It is built on custom hardware like Google’s sixth-generation TPUs Trillium. TPUs powered 100% of Gemini 2.0 training and inference, and Trillium is now generally available to customers too.

This week Google also launched Willow, a quantum chip. The company claims that the chip is capable of solving a complex computation in under five minutes, which would have taken a supercomputer around 10 septillion (10^25) years to complete. The highlight of the chip’s capability is that it reduces errors while scaling up the number of qubits processed by a quantum computer. 

TCS’ deals this week

Indian IT services major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Thursday said it has extended its partnership with Telenor Denmark (TnDK), the second-largest mobile operator in the Danish market, to provide ITIS-managed services. Over the next five years, TCS will manage TnDK’s IT infrastructure from its delivery centre in Europe. 

This week, TCS also partnered with Swiss energy management firm Landis+Gyr to develop advanced energy efficiency solutions. It will help clients to improve sustainability, operational efficiency, and reduce carbon emissions. 

The three-year collaboration will combine TCS' Clever Energy platform with Landis+Gyr’s metering and grid management technologies to create comprehensive energy management tools. 

Infosys Compaz-StarHub deal

Infosys Compaz, a joint venture of Infosys and Singaporean state holding company Temasek on Wednesday said it has strengthened its collaboration with Singapore-based communications, entertainment and digital services provider StarHub to accelerate its operations and drive technology-led innovations. 

Through the engagement, which originally dates back to January 2023, the Infosys JV will facilitate StarHub’s technology operations, with a focus on transforming the company into a cloud-centric enterprise, prioritising AI and cloud technologies, cybersecurity, and digital transformation, the company said in a statement.

Further, Infosys on Thursday announced a partnership with RheinEnergie, one of Germany’s leading energy providers, to advance enterprise energy transition and sustainability initiatives. 

The partnership will utilise Infosys Energy Cloud, a part of Infosys Cobalt and Infosys Topaz, the company’s AI-first offering, to help businesses boost energy efficiency by up to 30-40%, the company said in a statement.