Protecting Indian interest ‘supreme' in U.S. trade talks, says India trade ministry source
(Reporting by Manoj Kumar, writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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The National
5 hours ago
- The National
Mark Zuckerberg celebrates as Threads closes gap with X
Meta founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg celebrated as the company's Threads platform passed 400 million active users, closing a gap with Elon Musk's X. Various estimates indicate that X, which went live in 2006 as Twitter, has between 500 million and 600 million active monthly users. "Threads on the up and up," Mr Zuckerberg posted on the platform with a fire emoji. Adam Mosseri, who leads Meta's Instagram app and briefly oversaw Threads, also hailed the news. "This started as a zany idea to compete with Twitter and has evolved into a meaningful platform that fosters the open exchange of perspectives," Mr Mosseri wrote. He said those at Meta working on Threads know there is more work to be done to keep the user base growing. b "I'm grateful to all of you for making this place what it is today," Mr Mosseri said. Meta hastened the development of Threads in 2023 and launched it shortly after Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter caused significant concern and controversy among users who worried about the world's richest person withdrawing various fact-checking and hate speech policies, among other changes. In the initial description for the app on Apple iOS App Store, Meta said it wanted Threads to be a place 'where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what you'll care about tomorrow'. Because the app was paired heavily with Meta's Instagram accounts, it was quickly able to accumulate 100 million users in its first week, alengagement time on the app initially struggled to grow. The similarity of Threads to X at the time prompted Mr Musk's company to send a letter to Meta alleging 'wilful and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter's trade secrets and other intellectual property'. But there was no specific litigation. The decision by Meta to pair the app with Instagram and make the sign-up process significantly easier increased interest in the platform. But it also caused scrutiny in countries such as Turkey, where regulators accused the app of breaching data-sharing policies due to its tie-in with Instagram. Meta also later made tweaks to Threads to comply with data-sharing rules, among other policies in the EU. While there is still much debate over how much time users are spending on Threads, it has managed to provide an alternative to X, which continues to operate under a cloud of scrutiny due to Mr Musk's recent forays into politics.
The National
8 hours ago
- The National
Trump says Nvidia's H20 is 'obsolete', yet there are worries about selling the GPU to China
US President Donald Trump explained his decision to allow Nvidia to sell its H20 graphics processing unit (GPU) to China on Monday by describing it as obsolete. More specifically, Mr Trump was asked about making a deal with Nvidia for the US government to receive a 15 per cent cut of sales to Beijing. 'I deal with Jensen [Huang], who is a great guy,' Mr Trump said, referring to Nvidia's chief executive and founder. 'The chip that we're talking about, the H20, it's an old chip and China already has it … but it's obsolete and it still has a market.' That begs the question, however, why there is so much demand from China for the H20, and why some elected officials and analysts are so concerned that Mr Trump will allow the chip to be sold to the country. By most standards, Mr Trump's description of the H20 as obsolete is incorrect – to describe a technology, particularly a piece of hardware like the H20 GPU, as obsolete is to imply that it's no longer supported by the tech world, making it completely impractical to use within an existing technology ecosystem. That's not the case with the H20, which was designed several years ago by Nvidia to comply with US regulations seeking to prevent powerful AI technologies from being used by countries it views as adversaries. In recent weeks, a group of Democratic senators sent a letter to White House officials criticising the move to allow the resumption of H20 sales to China, claiming that because of the GPU's improved power-efficiency and high-bandwidth memory chips, 'many PRC [People's Republic of China] firms reportedly prefer the H20 to other controlled chips'. That's hardly an indication a GPU design is obsolete. Late in July, in response to The National's inquires about concerns about the H20 being sold in China, Nvidia did not exactly describe the GPU as obsolete either. 'The H20 helps America win the support of developers worldwide, promoting America's economic and national security,' the statement read, emphasising the chip's deliberately modest attributes. 'It does not enhance anyone's military capabilities, and the US government has full visibility and authority over every H20 transactions.' Some Republicans have also described Nvidia's H20 as still relevant. Representative John Moolenaar, who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, recently opposed resuming exports of the H20 to China. 'The H20 is a stark improvement over what the Chinese can indigenously produce at scale,' he said during a speech at Purdue University's Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy. 'When, not if, these chips are diverted to [China's] People's Liberation Army supercomputer, they will substantially upgrade their ability to run advanced AI models.' H20 paranoia abounds Regardless of whether or not one considers the H20 to be obsolete, there is a tremendous amount of speculation surrounding the chip, with some of the paranoia coming from China, where there is demand for it. This month, Nvidia sought to debunk reports that claimed some of its chips had a backdoor kill switch, to blunt any misuse that might compromise national security. Some members of the US Congress have even sought to make it mandatory for certain chips to contain kill switches. 'Nvidia GPUs do not and should not have kill switches and backdoors,' a blog post from the company read. 'No kill switches, and no spyware … that's not how trustworthy systems are built – and never will be.' Despite those assurances, however, recent reports have indicated China still has concerns. According to Bloomberg, Chinese officials are telling various companies within the country to not use Nvidia's H20 over fears that the chips might be compromised and vulnerable to being exploited. The Chinese embassy in Washington has not yet responded to The National's requests for comment. Trump praises Nvidia's Blackwell architecture Despite ample conjecture about the H20 coupled with the varying opinions about Nvidia's sales of it to China, during Mr Trump's news conference on Monday, he made clear that the company's other GPU offerings would likely not be exported to China anytime soon, at least not without a few changes. Mr Trump said Nvidia's highly touted Blackwell GPUs would need to be toned down before he would consider allowing them to be sold in China. 'It's super-duper advanced and I wouldn't make a deal with that,' he said, before quickly giving himself some wiggle room. 'Although it's possible that I would make a deal if they enhanced it in a negative way.' Mr Trump said based on his conversations with Mr Huang, he's impressed with the Blackwell platform, adding that in terms of processing power, none of Nvidia's competitors have it, 'and they probably won't for five years'. As for the 15 per cent cut that the Trump White House wants for the H20 sales to China, on Tuesday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said similar approaches might be applied to other companies and products, although she said specifics were still being worked out by the Department of Commerce. Some have questioned the constitutionality of the move, referring to it as a "reverse tariff".
Khaleej Times
9 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
AI automation shift: Hiring becomes more selective
NRI Biz Matters Question: There have been recent reports in the Indian press that companies in the IT sector have laid off employees during the last month. What is the reason for this downturn and are there any prospects of its reversal? ANSWER: You are right in pointing out that in the last few weeks some of the top IT companies in India have reduced their workforce, mainly mid-level employees. The industry is undergoing a structural shift in line with global trends where major tech firms are streamlining resources, reallocating assets, and shutting down divisions that no longer align with strategic priorities. Many experts believe that AI is disrupting the traditional workforce pyramid and replacing broad-based hiring models with leaner, more specialised structures which would yield higher revenues. In short, the shift is driven by the widespread adoption of AI, automation and cloud-based architectures. However, the silver lining is that robust outsourcing demand from Europe in recent months has helped IT companies to maintain revenue growth. Europe has started to build capabilities to sustain its tech sovereignty which at the moment is heavily dependent on the United States. The United Kingdom, Ireland and the Benelux countries are enhancing their capabilities in generative AI, cloud, digital and cyber security. Europe comprises around 25 to 30 per cent of the global market for India's top tier IT companies, while the United States is at 40 to 50 per cent. With AI-driven automation reshaping business models, companies are prioritising digital transformation and employee upskilling. Hiring has become more selective and aligned with core business objectives. Question: The US administration has imposed tariffs of 25% on Indian goods exported to America. Will this have a significant impact on the Indian manufacturing sector? ANSWER: The textile, gems and jewellery sectors will be adversely impacted by the 25 per cent tariff. However, India is in the process of negotiating a Bilateral Trade Agreement with the United States. Once this is signed and comes into effect, the provisions and tariff rates as prescribed in the agreement will prevail. . Pharmaceutical products will continue to be exported from India as they have been widely used in the American medicare system and such products are not readily available in large quantities from other countries at the same competitive rates at which Indian companies supply. Question: Have provisions been made for preserving the confidential data of taxpayers in the new income tax law which is to be passed shortly? Is there any difference between the existing law and the new one? ANSWER: The new income tax law has not given any additional powers to officers of the tax department which will continue to work on the philosophy of 'trust first and scrutinise later'. The government has directed tax officials to work on the presumption that taxpayers declare their income honestly. Steps for search and seizure and scrutiny of assessments are taken only where there is credible evidence of large scale tax evasion, concealment of income or involvement in illegal activities. The new tax law has made provisions for maintaining confidentiality of taxpayer data and has put in place internal controls to safeguard its integrity. The faceless nature of procedures like assessments and appeals introduces a layer of anonymity by design. This ensures a neutral, fair and objective approach. Risk assessment uses identity-blind and rule-based algorithms. Powers to access digital devices during search and survey operations have been updated in conformity with the needs of the digital age. In course of time, AI will play a critical role in detecting and curbing shell companies, unaccounted money and illegal transactions. Thus, AI will be used primarily for fraud and anomaly detection, pattern recognition, trend identification, predictive modelling and processing of unstructured data.
