The centre is working on a new artificial intelligence law which will protect the interests of news publishers and creators. Details on this and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch
Also in this letter:
■ 3AI, SML to jointly own Hanooman
■ Byju’s seeks arbitration in dispute with investors
■ Meet Devika, India’s first AI engineer
New AI law to secure rights of news publishers: Ashwini Vaishnaw
The government is framing a new law on artificial intelligence (AI) that will protect the interests of news publishers and content creators while also minimising user harm, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told us.Driving the news: The law will be “very balanced” and “strong on securing the rights and sharing the proceeds” between news publishers, content creators and AI-enabled technologies such as large language models, “while keeping good space for innovation,” the minister said. It can either be an independent legislation or part of the Digital India Bill.
Stakeholders on board: “We have already consulted the industry. After elections we will launch a formal consultation process and move towards legislation,” Vaishnaw added.
News publishers in India have been seeking changes to the information technology rules to ensure fair compensation for the use of their content by generative AI models.
The Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) grouping has sent a letter and made representations to the ministries of electronics and information technology, and information and broadcasting, seeking protection from likely copyright violations by AI models, ET reported in January.
Also read | Companies hail tweaked advisory easing AI model rollout
The bottom line: The development comes as demands for protecting the rights of publishers and content creators gather steam globally.
In December, The New York Times sued Microsoft and OpenAI alleging that millions of its copyrighted articles were used to train OpenAI’s generative models and chatbots, while Google was fined nearly $270 million by regulators in France. Meanwhile, Apple has reportedly started negotiations with major news outlets to strike deals that will allow the technology giant to train its AI systems using the copyrighted content.
Sachin Bansal’s Navi eyes $2-billion valuation in new funding talks
Navi Technologies founder Sachin BansalFlipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal’s fintech venture, Navi Technologies, is in talks to raise an external round of funding at a valuation of about $2 billion, sources have told ETtech.
Deal details: Bansal has discussed raising nearly $200-300 million from private investors, but this may increase depending on how the talks progress. People in the know said the $2-billion valuation is lower than that sought in previous funding discussions Navi had with investors two years ago.
“That’s what he thinks is the right valuation after the recent divestment of group companies like Chaitanya India Fin Credit,” one of the people said.
The proposed Rs 3,350-crore IPO would have seen some dilution from Bansal.
Background: This comes after Navi had filed for an initial public offering (IPO) and secured Sebi’s nod for the same. However, the company didn’t go ahead with the planned listing.
In 2018, Bansal sold his entire stake in Flipkart, at the time of its sale to US retail giant Walmart. He went on to use most of these funds to launch Navi, where he owns nearly 98% stake. Bansal has never raised external capital despite having made attempts previously.
Try and try again: Sources said Bansal was in talks with Temasek and other investors to raise a pre-IPO round, but it did not materialise – especially as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rejected the company’s banking licence application.
Also read | Home loan, insurance business drag Sachin Bansal’s Navi into slow lane
Funding alert: This development comes on the same day that ET reported on big-ticket deals in new-economy companies. Several startups are in talks to raise capital via primary and secondary share sales.
Also read | Wealthtech startups Dezerv, Stable Money close fresh funding amid larger fintech stress
Abu Dhabi’s 3AI, SML to jointly own Hanooman
Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence (AI) investment firm 3AI Holding has partnered with Seetha Mahalaxmi Healthcare (SML) to jointly own ‘Hanooman,’ the multilingual generative AI platform developed by SML in collaboration with IIT Bombay.
Driving the news: Under this joint ownership, both parties will hold a 50% stake in Hanooman. The exact amount that 3AI Holding has invested in Hanooman for the stake remains undisclosed.
Also, Hanooman will gain access to 3AI Holding’s Omega generative AI model, which is being developed with 665 billion parameters and 20 trillion tokens.
The platform aims to reach 200 million users across 22 Indian languages within its first year, starting from its launch on May 1, 2024.
Company speak: Arjun Prasad, managing director of 3AI Holding, told ET that Omega will enhance Hanooman’s capabilities in text, voice, image, and code for users.
“This collaboration underscores our commitment to India by delivering advanced AI solutions for the Indian masses with application across industries like healthcare, legal services, and education, among others,” Vishnu Vardhan, cofounder and CEO of SML India, said.
Also read | Meet India’s own ChatGPT-style AI model Hanooman
Meet Devika, India’s first AI engineer who can do it all | This 21-year-old Kerala boy has created India’s first AI software engineer called ‘Devika’ to rival ‘Devin’ developed by the US’ Cognition Labs. Devika can understand human instructions, generate software code, and even fix bugs. ET spoke to its creator Mufeed VH, who created the AI agent within 20 hours of coding in three days.
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Byju’s seeks arbitration in dispute with investors; NCLT adjourns hearing to April 23 | Troubled edtech firm Byju’s is seeking arbitration to resolve a dispute with investors over a $200-million rights issue. A senior counsel for Byju’s informed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday that the company has filed a separate plea with the tribunal to shift the case to arbitration.
Swiggy appoints Suparna Mitra as new independent director | Food-delivery and quick commerce major Swiggy has appointed Suparna Mitra as an independent director to its board. Mitra is the chief executive of the watches and wearables division of Titan Company, which is partly owned by Tata Sons. Mitra joins three other independent directors on Swiggy’s board.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ How Social Media Turned Into a Shopping Mall (Wired)
■ Google considers charging for AI-powered search in big change to business model (FT)
■ Amazon Sellers Plagued by Surge in Scam Returns (WSJ)
