🤖 India’s AI push

Good morning. It’s a great day today, let’s go after it 💪 

- Ruchirr Sharma & Shatakshi Sharmaa  

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• 📱 Why NPCI is phasing out fraud-prone pull payments on UPI

• 🤖 India’s AI push

• 🗞️ Bite-sized summaries

  • 💲 Google’s most expensive acquisition

  • 🥼 Indian AI going international

• 🧑‍🍳 What else is cookin’?

• 🍿 Entertainment, Entertainment, Entertainment

MARKETS

🇮🇳 India

• Indian markets rallied strongly. The rally was broad-based, with all sectoral indices gaining. Strong domestic institutional investor support, positive global cues, and improved macroeconomic indicators fueled the upward momentum.

🌍️ International

• US stocks fell sharply, ending a two-day rally. The sell-off was driven by caution ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting, ongoing trade tensions, and potential economic ramifications of tariff disputes.

FRAUD PREVENTION

📱 Why NPCI is phasing out fraud-prone pull payments on UPI

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which manages UPI (Unified Payments Interface), is planning to gradually phase out a specific type of payment called pull payments, particularly for merchant transactions. This move is aimed at reducing digital payment fraud, which has seen a sharp increase in recent times.

What are Pull Payments?

UPI allows payments in several ways:

• Scanning QR codes

• Sending money to a mobile number linked to a UPI ID

• Transferring directly to a UPI ID

• Pull transactions, where the payee (usually a merchant) requests money from the payer’s account.

It's the last method — pull transactions — that is being targeted for removal, but only in the context of merchant payments. Person-to-person (P2P) pull transactions will still be allowed, but capped at ₹2,000.

Why is NPCI removing Pull Payments?

Pull transactions are highly susceptible to fraud. Many users unknowingly approve payment requests through their UPI app, only to realize later that money has been deducted. Since users themselves authorize these transactions, banks can offer little help afterward.

In pull payments, merchants control the amount and initiate the request, leaving the user to approve it with a simple PIN. Fraudsters exploit this simplicity, tricking users into authorizing payments they didn’t intend to make.

What does this mean?

• For most users, the change will have little effect. They can still pay safely using QR codes or by sending money directly to a UPI ID.

• However, small merchants and online businesses may face some disruption. They'll need to work with payment platforms like Razorpay or Juspay to set up secure payment systems, including proper KYC procedures.

• NPCI is encouraging online merchants to display QR codes for payments instead of relying on pull transactions.

• Pull payments currently account for less than 3% of UPI transactions, so the broader payment ecosystem remains largely unaffected.

• For added security, users who still need to request payments (pull payments) can do so, but only for amounts under ₹2,000.

Read more: Economic Times

MARKETS

🤖 India’s AI push

India is making strides in AI with a focus on developing homegrown technology, including a domestic large language model (LLM) and indigenous GPU chips within the next 3-5 years.

Union Minister for Electronics & IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, announced this during the Raisina Dialogue 2025, emphasizing the need for self-reliance amid concerns over the future availability of open-source AI platforms.

Here’s the breakdown:

1. IndiaAI-Parliament Pact: A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the IndiaAI Mission and the Indian Parliament to utilize parliamentary data—available in multiple languages—for training India’s own LLM. Other rich data sources include Doordarshan and All India Radio.

2. Need for indigenous AI: With OpenAI transitioning towards a for-profit model and growing concerns about future access to open AI tools, India aims to build its own AI models to safeguard data sovereignty and technological autonomy.

3. Indigenous GPU development: The government is working with industry to develop indigenous GPU chips within 3-5 years. Two instruction set architectures are under evaluation to determine the best approach.

4. Funding and infrastructure: Vinod Dham, the father of Pentium processors, suggested AI-focused funding similar to the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), estimating a need for $50-100 billion over the next 2-3 years. Vaishnaw indicated openness to this recommendation.

What does this mean for india?

• This initiative could place India at the forefront of AI innovation, boosting self-reliance in critical technologies and reducing dependence on foreign tech giants. Indigenous GPUs and AI models would strengthen data privacy, national security, and the digital economy.

• Moreover, India's demographic advantage—with a young, skilled population—positions it well to capitalize on AI advancements. By developing core AI infrastructure, India can foster job creation, attract investments, and enhance global competitiveness in emerging technologies.

The IndiaAI Mission signifies a pivotal shift towards technological sovereignty, promising long-term economic and strategic benefits.

Read more: Economic Times

GENERAL OVERVIEW

🗞️ Bite-sized summaries

💲 Google’s most expensive acquisition - Google is set to acquire cloud cybersecurity startup Wiz for $32 billion in an all-cash deal. Once completed, Wiz will become part of Google Cloud, boosting Google’s cloud security services. Wiz offers a platform that scans cloud environments to detect risks, prevent attacks, and help developers secure applications. Google aims to combine Wiz’s tools with its own to create a unified security offering, enhanced by AI. This move supports growing demand for stronger cybersecurity and multi-cloud solutions. Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian noted that traditional security methods can’t keep up with today’s complex digital environments, making Wiz a strategic fit.

🥼 Indian AI going international - Sarvam AI, an AI startup focused on developing Indic foundational models, has launched Sarvam Labs, a new research team based in San Francisco's Bay Area. Founded in 2023 by Pratyush Kumar and Vivek Raghavan, Sarvam AI has raised $53.6 million and is valued at $111 million. Sarvam Labs will focus on foundational AI research and aims to create a collaborative space for AI researchers, professionals, and PhDs. The goal is to tackle challenges, share innovations, and shape AI's future for India and beyond. The company is inviting AI experts to join the initiative and influence global AI development.

HEADLINES

🧑‍🍳 What else is cookin’?

What’s happening in India (and around the world 🌍️)

• Zepto to deliver Apple products, emulating quick commerce rivals Instamart, Blinkit and BigBasket.

• US Fed meeting begins today: Will it contain India’s $17 billion FII exodus or cause more pain?

• India-Canada relations likely to improve post-Trudeau era: Former High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria.

• India will drive global oil consumption growth: Phillip Capital.

CULTURE

🍿 Entertainment, Entertainment, Entertainment

• Celine Song’s Materialists’ trailer is out now - and we are excited!!

• MasterChef Australia 17 welcomes back Indian-origin chef Depinder Chhibbe.

• Khakee: The Bengal Chapter: Sourav Ganguly packs a punch.