Google and Epic Games presented arguments before a US appeals court as Google attempted to overturn a jury verdict and a judge’s order requiring changes to its app store. Google’s lawyer argued that the trial judge made errors that unfairly benefited Epic, which had accused the company of monopolising access to apps on Android devices. A San Francisco jury previously ruled that Google had stifled competition.
The judge ordered Google to allow users to download rival app stores within its Play Store and to make its app catalogue available to competitors. Google’s appeal has put the ruling on hold, with its lawyer contending that the company faces strong competition from Apple’s App Store and was unfairly restricted from making that argument. Epic’s lawyer rejected Google’s claims, insisting that its dominance had harmed competition for years.
A judge on the appeals panel challenged Google’s position, highlighting key differences between Apple’s and Android’s business models. Google also argued that Epic’s case should not have gone before a jury, as it did not seek damages. Epic countered that the Play Store changes were necessary and disputed Google’s concerns about privacy and security.
The US Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission, and Microsoft have backed Epic in the case. A decision from the appeals court is expected later in the year, with the possibility of further escalation to the US Supreme Court.
Indian entrepreneur Bhavish Aggarwal is investing $230 million into Krutrim, an AI startup he founded, as part of India’s push to establish itself in the global AI market. The company, which develops large language models (LLMs) for Indian languages, aims to raise a total of $1.15 billion by next year, with Aggarwal seeking additional funding from external investors.
In a significant move, Krutrim has made its AI models open source and announced plans to build India’s largest supercomputer in partnership with Nvidia. The firm recently introduced Krutrim-2, a 12-billion parameter model that has demonstrated strong performance in Indian language processing and code generation. It has also launched BharatBench, a new evaluation framework designed to assess AI models’ proficiency in Indian languages.
The investment follows the launch of Krutrim-1, India’s first large language model, and aligns with broader efforts to position India as a key player in AI, traditionally dominated by the US and China. Krutrim has also begun hosting Chinese AI lab DeepSeek’s models on domestic servers, signalling India’s growing role in the AI ecosystem. With a supercomputer set to go live in March, the company is poised for rapid expansion in the coming months.
Dubai-based startup Qeen.ai has raised $10 million in a seed funding round led by Prosus Ventures to scale its AI-powered e-commerce platform. Founded by former Google and DeepMind researchers, the company develops autonomous AI agents that help businesses automate marketing, content creation, and sales, allowing smaller merchants to compete more effectively without relying on costly agencies or ad expertise.
Qeen.ai’s proprietary AI technology, which continuously learns from consumer interactions, has already generated over a million product descriptions and helped boost merchant sales by 30%. Its AI-powered Dynamic Content agent personalises online shopping experiences, adjusting marketing strategies in real time based on user behaviour. Since launching in mid-2024, the platform has served 15 million users, with notable clients including Dubai Store, 6th Street, and Jumia.
The startup plans to use the fresh funding to expand its team and enhance its AI capabilities, focusing first on the Middle East before expanding globally. With the e-commerce market in the MENA region expected to reach $50 billion by 2025, Qeen.ai aims to establish itself as a key player in AI-driven retail automation.
Paris-based startup Neuralk-AI has raised $4 million to develop AI models tailored for structured data, such as databases and spreadsheets. Unlike traditional AI, which excels at unstructured content like images and text, Neuralk-AI’s approach aims to help businesses extract deeper insights from their existing data warehouses. Retailers, in particular, could benefit from its models, using AI to optimise inventory, detect fraud, and refine customer recommendations.
The company, co-founded by Alexandre Pasquiou, plans to launch its AI models as an API for data scientists in commerce-focused industries. By automating complex workflows and enhancing data analysis, Neuralk-AI hopes to offer a more efficient alternative to traditional machine learning tools. The startup is already collaborating with major French retailers such as E.Leclerc and Auchan to test its technology.
Backed by Fly Ventures, SteamAI, and industry leaders including Hugging Face’s Thomas Wolf, Neuralk-AI is working towards becoming the leading AI solution for structured data. The first version of its model is expected to launch in the coming months, with a full benchmark release planned for later this year.
Bengaluru-based startup Presentations.ai has raised $3 million in a seed round led by Accel to enhance its AI-powered platform for creating business presentations. The company, which launched in 2019, saw rapid growth after the emergence of ChatGPT, gaining over a million users within three months of its beta release. Now, with over 5 million users worldwide, it aims to become the go-to AI tool for generating high-quality presentation decks.
The Indian platform uses advanced language models to streamline the presentation-making process, offering features like automated slide design, brand-aligned templates, and real-time collaboration. It also integrates text-to-image AI models, allowing users to generate custom visuals effortlessly. With a freemium model introduced in 2024, the startup has attracted tens of thousands of paying users, further solidifying its market presence.
With backing from key investors, including entrepreneurs from Paytm, CRED, and Freshworks, Presentations.ai is now working on an AI-powered assistant that can generate slides within any application. The company is also expanding its enterprise sales team to target businesses looking for more efficient ways to create presentations.
Meta has introduced a new policy framework outlining when it may restrict the release of its AI systems due to security concerns. The Frontier AI Framework categorises AI models into ‘high-risk’ and ‘critical-risk’ groups, with the latter referring to those capable of aiding catastrophic cyber or biological attacks. If an AI system is classified as a critical risk, Meta will suspend its development until safety measures can be implemented.
The company’s evaluation process does not rely solely on empirical testing but also considers input from internal and external researchers. This approach reflects Meta’s belief that existing evaluation methods are not yet robust enough to provide definitive risk assessments. Despite its historically open approach to AI development, the company acknowledges that some models could pose unacceptable dangers if released.
By outlining this framework, Meta aims to demonstrate its commitment to responsible AI development while distinguishing its approach from other firms with fewer safeguards. The policy comes amid growing scrutiny of AI’s potential misuse, especially as open-source models gain wider adoption.
OpenAI has announced a new partnership with Kakao to develop AI products for South Korea. This marks OpenAI’s second major alliance in Asia this week, following a similar deal with SoftBank for AI services in Japan. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who is on a tour of Asia, also met with leaders from Samsung Electronics, SoftBank, and Arm Holdings. The partnership with Kakao is seen as part of OpenAI’s broader strategy to expand its AI presence in the region, with a focus on messaging and AI applications.
Kakao, which operates South Korea’s dominant messaging app KakaoTalk, plans to integrate OpenAI’s technology into its services as part of its push to grow its AI capabilities. Although Kakao has lagged behind rival Naver in the AI race, the company is positioning AI as a key growth engine. Altman highlighted the importance of South Korea’s energy, semiconductor, and internet sectors in driving demand for AI products, noting that many local companies will play a role in OpenAI’s Stargate data centre project in the US.
In addition to his work with Kakao, Altman met with executives from SK Group and Samsung to discuss AI chips and potential cooperation. SK Hynix, a key player in the production of AI processors, has been in discussions with OpenAI regarding collaboration in the AI ecosystem. Altman also indicated that OpenAI is actively considering involvement in South Korea’s national AI computing centre project, which is expected to attract up to $1.4 billion in investment.
Following the announcement, Kakao’s stock fell by 2%, after a 9% surge the previous day.
US telecom giant AT&T and Finnish network equipment maker Nokia have signed a multi-year agreement to upgrade AT&T’s voice services and 5G network automation. This deal comes after Nokia lost a significant contract to Swedish rival Ericsson in 2023, which led to Ericsson securing a $14 billion deal to build a network for AT&T covering 70% of its US wireless traffic by 2026. Nokia, however, remains involved with AT&T through a smaller agreement for fibre network development and a new contract focused on cloud-based voice applications and network automation.
The deal will enhance AT&T’s core network, enabling new voice services, including the integration of AI and machine learning. Although the financial details of the agreement were not disclosed, Nokia’s involvement is seen as crucial in bolstering its long-standing relationship with AT&T. Nokia’s president of Cloud and Network Services, Raghav Sahgal, emphasised that this agreement will allow for the deployment of new 5G functionalities.
Nokia recently reported stronger-than-expected earnings, driven by higher demand for telecoms equipment, particularly in North America and India. The company remains optimistic about its prospects in 2025, especially with plans to capitalise on the AI boom. Last year, Nokia also agreed to acquire Infinera for $2.3 billion to strengthen its position in the growing data centre and AI markets.
Waabi, a self-driving technology company, announced a partnership with Volvo’s driverless systems unit on Tuesday to develop autonomous big rigs. The collaboration aims to integrate Waabi’s virtual driver system, sensors, and computing into Volvo’s VNL Autonomous truck, which will be produced at Volvo’s New River Valley factory in Virginia.
The partnership comes as truck manufacturers and fleets look for ways to address driver shortages and reduce operational costs. Waabi, backed by Nvidia and Uber, uses its digital simulator, Waabi World, for testing and validation, with plans to launch commercial pilots in Texas within four years.
Unlike Tesla, which relies on a vision-only approach for its self-driving technology, Waabi uses a unique system to simulate real-world driving situations. The company also indicated that the deal with Volvo is not exclusive and they aim to integrate their technology with other truck manufacturers.
Volvo’s venture capital arm invested in Waabi in 2023, joining other backers such as Khosla Ventures and Porsche Automobil Holding. Waabi’s CEO Raquel Urtasun said trucking was a natural starting point for their technology, with plans to expand into areas like robotaxis and humanoid robots in the future.
Taiwan has officially banned government agencies from using DeepSeek AI, citing security risks and concerns over potential data exposure to China. The move strengthens previous guidance, which only advised against its use.
Premier Cho Jung-tai announced the decision after a cabinet meeting, stressing the importance of safeguarding national information security. Officials raised fears over possible censorship on DeepSeek and the risk of sensitive data being transferred to China.
The digital ministry had initially stated on Friday that government departments should avoid the AI service but did not explicitly prohibit it. The latest announcement formalises the ban, aligning with Taiwan’s broader approach to restricting Chinese technology.
Authorities in several other countries, including South Korea, France, Italy, and Ireland, have also scrutinised DeepSeek’s handling of personal data.
