According to its latest annual report, Reliance Jio plans to lead in 6G and AI, aiming to deliver long-term returns for shareholders. With 191 million users, Jio is the world’s second-largest 5G provider after China.
The company is launching JioBrain, a wide-ranging AI platform for network planning, resource optimisation, and customer service. Jio intends to expand this platform beyond telecoms within India and globally.
Jio is also building a satellite communication platform and partnering with SpaceX to bring Starlink broadband to India. The company stated that it will combine its infrastructure and data with global partners to achieve the lowest AI operating costs globally.
Its JioFiber and JioAirFiber services have reached 18 million and 6 million homes, respectively. The goal is to connect 100 million premises through fibre and fixed wireless access technologies.
Jio has filed over 3,341 patents, including 1,654 in FY25, and now holds 485 patents in 5G and 6G, reportedly the most in India. Its digital services revenue reached ₹154,119 crore with an EBITDA of ₹65,001 crore, driven by mobility tariffs, enterprise demand, and platform expansion.
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Visa has launched a new Cybersecurity Advisory Practice to support businesses in identifying and countering growing cyber risks. The initiative aims to provide practical insights tailored to clients of all sizes.
The practice will be powered by Visa Consulting & Analytics, which brings together a global team of consultants, product specialists and data scientists. Services include training, threat analysis and cybersecurity maturity assessments.
Jeremiah Dewey, a veteran with over 20 years of experience in the field, has been named global head of cyber products. He will lead product development and build strategic partnerships.
Visa says the goal is to offer scalable solutions to both small businesses and large enterprises, enabling them to stay resilient in an evolving digital threat market.
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Colorado lawmakers face a dual challenge as they return to the State Capitol on 21 August for a special session: closing a $1.2 billion budget shortfall and revisiting a pioneering yet controversial law regulating AI.
Senate Bill 24-205, signed into law in May 2024, aims to reduce bias in AI decision-making affecting areas such as lending, insurance, education, and healthcare. While not due for implementation until February 2026, critics and supporters now expect that deadline to be extended.
Representative Brianna Titone, one of the bill’s sponsors, emphasised the importance of transparency and consumer safeguards, warning of the risks associated with unregulated AI. However, unexpected costs have emerged. State agencies estimate implementation could cost up to $5 million, a far cry from the bill’s original fiscal note.
Governor Polis has called for amendments to prevent excessive financial and administrative burdens on state agencies and businesses. The Judicial Department now expects costs to double from initial projections, requiring supplementary budget requests.
Industry concerns centre on data-sharing requirements and vague regulatory definitions. Critics argue the law could erode competitive advantage and stall innovation in the United States. Developers are urging clarity and more time before compliance is enforced.
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Over 1,000 employees are now based at Hubballi, where the new Living Lab delivers services across sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, and space technology. Strategic ties with local academic institutions like IIIT Dharwad are intended to nurture future-ready talent close to operations.
Local leaders framed the centre as a corrective to past underutilisation concerns and a driver of industry-academia collaboration. By encouraging expansion to other districts, they set the tone for inclusive growth and long-term innovation across North Karnataka.
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NVIDIA has publicly rejected calls to embed kill switches or backdoors in its AI chips amid growing political pressure. The statement follows proposals from US lawmakers and accusations by Chinese authorities.
Chief Security Officer David Reber Jr. said any such backdoor would endanger global digital infrastructure and open doors for hackers. He reaffirmed NVIDIA’s commitment to fixing vulnerabilities, not creating them.
The controversy arises as the chipmaker navigates strict US export controls while maintaining its foothold in China with the H20 chip. A Chinese agency recently claimed these chips already contain hidden controls.
Reber distinguished transparent, user-controlled tools like remote wipe from covert backdoors, arguing they serve customers without risking the system integrity of the chips.
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Apple is increasing its domestic investment by an additional $100 billion, bringing its total commitment to US manufacturing to $600 billion over the next four years.
The announcement was made by CEO Tim Cook during a joint appearance with President Donald Trump at the White House, as the administration signals plans to impose steep tariffs on foreign-made semiconductors.
The investment includes a new American Manufacturing Program aimed at expanding US production of key Apple components, such as AI servers and rare earth magnets. Facilities are already under development in states including Texas, Kentucky, and Arizona.
Apple says the initiative will support 450,000 jobs across all 50 states and reduce reliance on overseas supply chains.
Apple’s expanded spending arrives amid criticism of its slow progress in AI. With its ‘Apple Intelligence’ software struggling for traction, and the recent departure of foundation model head Rouming Pang to Meta, the company is now shifting focus.
Cook confirmed that investment in AI infrastructure is accelerating, with data centres expanding in five states.
While Apple’s move has drawn praise for supporting American jobs, it has also stirred controversy. Some users expressed discontent with Cook’s public alignment with Trump, despite the strategic importance of avoiding tariffs.
Trump stated that companies investing in the US would not face the proposed import charges.
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Australia’s eSafety commissioner report showed that tech giants, including Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, have failed to act against online child sexual abuse. Namely, it was found that Apple and YouTube do not track the number of abuse reports they receive or how quickly they respond, raising serious concerns. Additionally, both companies failed to disclose the number of trust and safety staff they employ, highlighting ongoing transparency and accountability issues in protecting children online.
In July 2024, the eSafety Commissioner of Australia took action by issuing legally enforceable notices to major tech companies, pressuring them to improve their response to child sexual abuse online.
These notices legally require recipients to comply within a set timeframe. Under the order, each companies were required to report eSafety every six months over a two-year period, detailing their efforts to combat child sexual abuse material, livestreamed abuse, online grooming, sexual extortion, and AI-generated content.
While these notices were issued in 2022 and 2023, there has been minimal effort by the companies to take action to prevent such crimes, according to Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant.
Apple did not use hash-matching tools to detect known CSEA images on iCloud (which was opt-in, end-to-end encrypted) and did not use hash-matching tools to detect known CSEA videos on iCloud or iCloud email. For iMessage and FaceTime (which were end-to-end encrypted), Apple only used Communication Safety, Apple’s safety intervention to identify images or videos that likely contain nudity, as a means of ‘detecting’ CSEA.
Discord did not use hash-matching tools for known CSEA videos on any part of the service (despite using hash-matching tools for known images and tools to detect new CSEA material).
Google did not use hash-matching tools to detect known CSEA images on Google Messages (end-to-end encrypted), nor did it detect known CSEA videos on Google Chat, Google Messages, or Gmail.
Microsoft did not use hash-matching tools for known CSEA images stored on OneDrive18, nor did it use hash-matching tools to detect known videos within content stored on OneDrive or Outlook.
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China’s top security agency has raised concerns over crypto-related projects collecting biometric data, warning they may threaten national security. A recent MSS bulletin warned that crypto firms trading tokens for iris scans could misuse personal data.
While the agency didn’t explicitly mention Worldcoin, the description aligns with its practice of exchanging tokens for biometric scans in over 160 countries.
Officials described iris recognition as a sensitive form of identification that, once leaked, cannot be changed. The bulletin warned that fake facial data may be used by foreign agencies for espionage and infiltration.
In response to privacy concerns, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently proposed a pluralistic identity system. The concept combines multiple sources of verification rather than relying on a single, centralised ID.
He argued that current models risk eliminating anonymity and may favour wealthy participants in verification systems.
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An unexpected technical issue led United Airlines to temporarily ground all its mainline flights across key US airports. The disruption affected hundreds of departures, notably at hubs like Newark, San Francisco and Denver.
United Express flights remained unaffected, and in‑air services continued as planned. The airline reassured customers that safety was the top priority while staff worked to restore systems.
So far around 827 flights have been delayed and 23 cancelled. United confirmed that a cyberattack was not to blame for the outage.
Passengers reported delayed departures due to missing system data needed for take‑off. The airline noted delays may persist into the evening as technical fixes are completed
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A sweeping cyberattack has compromised the federal court filing system across multiple US states, exposing sensitive case data and informant identities. The breach affects core systems used by legal professionals and the public.
Sources say the Administrative Office of the US Courts first realised the scale of the hack in early July, with authorities still assessing the damage. Nation-state-linked actors or organised crime are suspected.
Critical systems like CM/ECF and PACER were impacted, raising fears over sealed indictments, search warrants and cooperation records now exposed. A dozen dockets were reportedly tampered with in at least one district.
Calls to modernise the ageing court infrastructure have intensified, with officials warning of rising cyber threats and the urgent need for system replacements.
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