Technology

Seoul, Feb 8 (IANS) Samsung Electronics will begin mass production of the world's first sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory, known as HBM4, later this month, industry sources said on Sunday.

The South Korean tech giant plans to start shipping HBM4 chips as early as next week, following the Lunar New Year holiday, for use in graphics processing units (GPUs) made by Nvidia Corp., the sources said. Nvidia's GPUs are widely used in generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems, reports Yonhap news agency.

"Samsung, which has the world's largest production capacity and the broadest product lineup, has demonstrated a recovery in its technological competitiveness by becoming the first to mass-produce the highest-performing HBM4," said an industry source, who declined to be named.

The global HBM market is currently dominated by fifth-generation HBM3E chips, but industry observers expect HBM4 to emerge as a key technology. Nvidia plans to adopt HBM4 in its next-generation AI accelerator, named Vera Rubin.

Samsung has passed Nvidia's quality certification process and secured purchase orders, the sources said, noting that the production schedule was finalised to align with Nvidia's launch plans for Vera Rubin.

The volume of HBM4 samples supplied by Samsung for customer-side module testing has also increased significantly under the latest purchase order, the sources added.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics reported a record-breaking operating profit for the fourth quarter, touching the 20 trillion-won (US$13.8 billion) mark for the first time, driven by a supercycle in the chip industry.

The fourth-quarter operating profit marked a more than 200 percent rise from a year earlier, the company said in a preliminary earnings report.

If confirmed, it would mark the first time for the company's quarterly earnings to reach the 20 trillion-won level.

Sales increased 22.7 percent to 93 trillion won. It was also the first time for the quarterly sales to surpass the 90 trillion-won mark.

The data for net profit was not available. The operating profit was 1.8 percent higher than the average estimate, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

—IANS

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Bengaluru, Feb 7 (IANS) Texas Instruments (TI) is a true pioneer in India’s semiconductor journey, said Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology, on Saturday.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the American multinational semiconductor company’s official product research and development (R&D) center in Bengaluru. The event also commemorated the company’s 40-year presence in India.

“I congratulate Texas Instruments on the inauguration of this world-class R&D center in Bengaluru. TI has been a true pioneer in India’s semiconductor journey and stood as a testament of consistently nurturing the design talent ecosystem in India,” Vaishnaw said.

“The company’s expanded investment reinforces India’s position as a global hub for semiconductor design and development and supports our vision of building an innovation-led nation,” he added.

The new 550,000-square-foot centre features a collaborative workspace dedicated to developing world-class chip designs. The center includes an end-to-end reliability lab equipped with advanced testing capabilities for various environmental conditions, along with many other integrated circuit design labs.

It also highlights the company’s strategic vision to propel semiconductor innovation and nurture world-class design talent. This expansion reinforces TI's commitment to developing breakthrough analog and embedded processing technologies while strengthening its support for the design ecosystem and its growing customer base in India.

“As we celebrate 40 years in India, this milestone reflects TI’s rich legacy and our strong commitment to the future. TI India's product development and design teams drive research and breakthrough innovations for customers worldwide. Our world-class engineers are central to pioneering the next generation of semiconductor advancements," said Santhosh Kumar, president and managing director, TI India.

As the first multinational company to establish an R&D center in India in 1985, TI has been instrumental in shaping India's semiconductor landscape for four decades.

The company recently opened an additional sales office to strengthen its partnership with Indian customers, while the new R&D facility builds on its innovation capabilities in the region.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 7 (IANS) The upcoming India AI Impact Summit will unite nations, innovators, and citizens to develop an inclusive and responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI), said Abhishek Singh, CEO, IndiaAI Mission.

The AI Impact Summit is scheduled to be held in Delhi from February 19 to 20.

Speaking at the latest episode of Digital India – Ask Our Experts, Singh highlighted how the Summit will act as a people-centric platform, moving beyond technical discussions to focus on how citizens can use AI for their own benefit -- in education, healthcare, agriculture, governance, startups, services, and employment.

“Artificial Intelligence is not meant to replace people; it is meant to empower them. The India AI Impact Summit is about helping citizens understand how AI can improve daily life, create new opportunities, and make India future-ready,” Singh noted.

“Through the India AI Impact Summit, India is moving the global AI conversation from intent to impact -- ensuring that innovation, skills, and benefits of AI are accessible to all, especially countries of the Global South,” he added.

Singh emphasised that AI could help farmers improve crop planning, enable doctors to make faster and more accurate diagnoses, support teachers with personalised learning tools, assist small businesses and startups in scaling faster, and help job seekers discover new career paths.

He also addressed common fears and myths, and clarified that AI is not about replacing humans, but about augmenting human capability.

“While certain tasks will change, AI is expected to create new jobs, new skills, and new opportunities -- especially for India’s youth, professionals, researchers, and entrepreneurs. Citizens were encouraged to focus on continuous learning, adaptability, and AI literacy, rather than fear of disruption,” Singh said.

The expert also called upon citizens to actively participate in the India AI Impact Summit, stressing that India’s AI journey will succeed only when people understand, trust, and use AI responsibly.

The Summit, Singh noted, is not just about technology -- it is about shaping an AI future that works for every Indian.

The Summit aims to translate global AI conversations into real, usable outcomes for people on the ground, especially in developing economies and the Global South. It will also showcase such practical use cases, demonstrating how AI can be a tool for inclusion, efficiency, and empowerment, not just automation.

--IANS

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Mumbai, Feb 6 (IANS) The Indian equity markets posted moderate losses in the early session on Friday, as investors waited for cues from the RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision on the key repo rate.

As of 9.25 am, Sensex lost 134 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 83,179, and Nifty eased 56 points, or 0.22 per cent to 25,586.

Main broad-cap indices posted strong losses, as the Nifty Midcap 100 eased 0.48 per cent, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 edged down 0.97 per cent.

Major sectoral indices traded in red, expect PSU bank, private bank as well as oil and gas. Most notable losers were IT, down 1.76 per cent and pharma, down 1.03 per cent.

Immediate support for Nifty lies at 25,450-25,500 zone, while resistance is anchored at 25,750–25,800 zone, market watchers said.

The MPC policy committee set to announce the decision and is widely expected to keep repo rates unchanged at 5.25 per cent, with focus likely to remain on liquidity management and transmission.

Since February 2025, the RBI has cut repo rate by 125 basis points (bps).

Meanwhile, the Asian-Pacific markets traded mixed, tracking another tech-led rout on Wall Street.

In Asian markets, China's Shanghai index added 0.11 per cent, and Shenzhen added 0.65 per cent, Japan's Nikkei gained 0.51 per cent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged down 1.19 per cent. South Korea's Kospi lost 1.79 per cent.

The US markets ended in the red overnight as Nasdaq eased 1.59 per cent. The S&P 500 declined 1.23 per cent, and the Dow Jones lost 1.2 per cent.

On February 5, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold equities worth Rs 2,151 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 1,130 crore.

—IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 5 (IANS) Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Thursday launched Bharat Taxi, India's first cooperative-led ride-hailing platform, after a successful two-month pilot operation, saying that the service will be rolled out across the country in the next three years.

Bharat Taxi has been initially launched in Delhi-NCR and Gujarat and will be expanded across all states and Union Territories within two years. Profits will be shared with drivers associated with Bharat Taxi. Customers can hail cars, three-wheelers and two-wheelers through the digital platform.

HM Shah said at an event here that "in three years, Bharat Taxi will be rolled out across the country, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Dwarka to Kamakhya".

"I said that when this cooperative taxi initiative began, we did not realise how big it would become, but in the coming years it will grow across the country and benefit taxi drivers," HM Shah told the gathering.

"I clarified that the government is not entering the taxi sector; this is a cooperative initiative, and the taxi drivers themselves are its owners. I emphasised that every driver associated with this cooperative taxi will have ownership, and it will work for their welfare," he added.

Bharat Taxi is being promoted as a driver‑owned mobility service that follows a zero‑commission model in its initial phase, with 100 per cent of ride payments going directly to drivers.

The Ministry of Cooperation said the platform will free drivers, referred to as Sarathis, from exploitative aggregator-based models. The minimum fare for up to 4 km is Rs 30; 4-12 km at Rs 23 per km, and rides beyond 12 km are priced at Rs 18 per km.

Bharat Taxi also integrates with public transit services such as the Metro, allowing users to plan and complete journeys involving multiple modes of transport through a single app. Unlike existing platforms, Bharat Taxi plans to avoid surge pricing, although dynamic pricing may be applied in specific situations.

The app, available on both Android and iOS, was ranked ninth on the Google Play Store and 13th on Apple’s App Store. The sign-up process requires only basic details like a mobile number, name, and email address.

--IANS

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Mumbai, Feb 5 (IANS) Leading telecom company Bharti Airtel on Thursday reported 55 per cent drop in net profit at Rs 6,630.5 crore (after exceptional items) for the third quarter of fiscal year 2026 on year-on-year basis, compared to Rs 14,781.2 crore in the same period last fiscal.

The decline in profit is attributed to a high base effect from the previous year. In the December quarter of FY24, Airtel had recorded an exceptional gain of Rs 7,545.6 crore.

Additionally, the company's profit was impacted by an additional expense of Rs 256.8 crore due to the new Labour Codes.

On a quarterly basis, the company's profit decreased by 2.3 per cent. In the September quarter of FY26, the company's profit was Rs 6,791.7 crore.

The company's total revenue in the December quarter stood at Rs 54,683.9 crore, a 19.92 per cent increase compared to Rs 45,599 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

The company's total expenses in the December quarter of the current fiscal year were Rs 23,198.8 crore -- compared to Rs 20,532.7 crore in the December quarter of FY25. This represents a 12.98 per cent increase in expenses year-on-year.

“India revenue including passive infrastructure services increased by 1.4 per cent sequentially. Africa delivered yet another quarter of exceptional performance with constant currency revenue growth of 5.8 per cent. One of the reasons for our stepped-up performance in Africa is the deployment of our home-grown digital stack that has sharpened our go to market excellence, the secret sauce of Airtel,” said Gopal Vittal, Executive Vice Chairman.

Bharti Airtel reported that its average revenue per user (ARPU) reached Rs 259 in the December quarter, up from Rs 256 in September and Rs 245 in December 2024.

In the December quarter, 26,056 million GB of data was consumed on the company's network. This represents a 6.6 per cent increase compared to the 24,446 million GB of data in the September quarter and a 29.2 per cent increase compared to the 20,174 million GB of data in the December quarter of the previous year.

Data consumption per user in the December quarter was 29.8 GB per month. This is 5 per cent higher than the 28.3 GB per month in the September quarter and 21.5 per cent higher than the 24.5 GB in the December quarter of the previous year.

Airtel's employee count decreased on both quarterly and annual basis. In the December quarter of FY26, the company had 24,186 employees. This figure is 205 less than in the September quarter of the current fiscal year and 340 less than in the December quarter of FY25.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 5 (IANS) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to maintain status quo in the upcoming policy decision on Friday, as despite policy rate easing, government bond yields have exhibited persistent hardening in recent periods, among other reasons.

According to economists, the choice of eligible securities itself may influence the effectiveness of OMO operations, even when the aggregate quantum of liquidity injection is unchanged.

“We believe that the choice of eligible securities itself may influence the effectiveness of OMO operations, even when the aggregate quantum of liquidity injection is unchanged,” said an SBI Research report.

“RBI is thus likely to maintain status quo in the upcoming policy,” it added.

Since the last policy, one of the major policy changes is the EU-India and US-India trade deal resulting in reduction in tariffs on India to 18 per cent from 50 per cent earlier.

Clearly, India has now one of the lowest tariffs among Asian countries which will help in improving our export competitiveness, said SBI Research.

However, global economy continues to remain uncertain. Our Geo-Economics Stress Index reveals heightened uncertainty leads to economic stress with a lag of 3-4 months. Elsewhere, metal prices have recovered after witnessing a significant sell-off last week, said the SBI report.

Moreover, slack in labour market, stagnant real disposable incomes alongside reduced inflationary impact might lead to US Fed rate cuts.

Against this backdrop, Indian currency see-sawed between 89-92 per dollar for the past two month and has depreciated by 5.8 per cent against USD (most amongst the major economies) since April 2 2025, when US announced sweeping tariff hikes across economies, though it appreciated significantly (more than Re 1) after the India-US trade deal reducing the tariffs to 18 per cent.

OMOs net purchase worth Rs 6.16 lakh crore has already been done and given the current global uncertainties, “we believe RBI may have to go up to Rs 50,000 crore further OMOs purchase in the remaining part of FY to support durable liquidity quest amidst credit growth,” said the SBI report.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 3 (IANS) NASA has postponed the ambitious Artemis II mission to the Moon to March after detecting a hydrogen leak during a key fuelling test.

The mission to launch a team of four astronauts on a journey around the Moon from Kennedy Space Center in Florida was initially targetted for February 6. It was later delayed to February 8 due to cold weather conditions with winds moving through Florida.

“With the conclusion of the wet dress rehearsal today, we are moving off the February launch window and targeting March for the earliest possible launch of Artemis II,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman shared in a post on social media platform X.

“As always, safety remains our top priority for our astronauts, our workforce, our systems, and the public. We will only launch when we believe we are as ready to undertake this historic mission,” he added.

The two-day test at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which began on January 31, successfully loaded cryogenic propellants into the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's tanks.

But it ended early on Tuesday due to a liquid hydrogen leak at the interface of the tail service mast umbilical, which had experienced high concentrations of liquid hydrogen earlier in the countdown, as well.

The engineers spent several hours troubleshooting the leak but weren't successful.

“The engineers conducted a first run at terminal countdown operations during the test, counting down to approximately 5 minutes left in the countdown, before the ground launch sequencer automatically stopped the countdown due to a spike in the liquid hydrogen leak rate,” NASA shared in a blog post.

In addition, “a valve associated with Orion crew module hatch pressurisation, which recently was replaced, required retorquing, and closeout operations took longer than planned,” it said, adding that despite several challenges, many of the planned objectives were met.

A second wet dress rehearsal is expected in March, ahead of the scheduled launch.

Meanwhile, the Artemis II astronauts will now be released from quarantine, which they entered in Houston on January 21. The crew will enter quarantine again about two weeks out from the next targeted launch opportunity, NASA said.

The 10-day mission will set the stage for Artemis III, slated for launch in 2027, when humans will land on the lunar South Pole for the first time and set up a long-term presence there.

The Artemis II crew includes NASA’s commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) Jeremy Hansen.

--IANS

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New Delhi, Feb 2 (IANS) An analysis of India’s security challenges and discussions on modern and futuristic war fighting are slated to top the agenda at the third edition of the tri-services Future Warfare Course commencing at Manekshaw Centre here, an official statement said on Monday.

This edition, scheduled from February 2 to 25, features an enhanced curriculum covering specialised subjects and domain-specific warfare developments in military operations, the Defence Ministry statement said.

The course, being conducted under the aegis of Headquarters, Integrated Defence Staff and in partnership with the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS), focuses on developing an erudite understanding of how war fighting is being impacted by technology, necessitating a relook at our thinking, concepts, doctrines and strategies, it said.

Building on the success of the inaugural course held in September 2024, this expanded three-week programme aims to realise the vision of the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, to prepare officers for the complex challenges of modern warfare.

It also caters for deeper exploration of critical topics, practical demonstrations of emerging technologies and visits to institutions of critical importance to the capabilities of the defence forces, said the statement.

The course comprises participants from the three services, as well as representatives from the defence industry, including startups, MSMEs, DPSUs, and the private industry.

Amongst the services participants, the seniority of the officers varies from majors to major generals (and their equivalents), with the junior officers bringing their technical flair and expertise and the senior officers their operational experience and strategic knowledge.

The Future Warfare course will align operational priorities of the armed forces with the capabilities of the indigenous defence industry and enable a free-flowing discussion on the various facets of modern and futuristic war fighting, said the official statement.

A diverse range of experts, including veterans, serving officers, ex-ambassadors, industry experts and academic professionals, will ensure that a holistic analysis of security challenges is debated in a threadbare and professional manner.

Additionally, this course features experts in subjects like critical and rare earth elements, supply chain vulnerabilities and regional and global geopolitics impinging on operations in the future, expanding the number of subjects that will need to be studied and analysed by the Defence Forces in order to plan and conduct operations in the future, said the statement.

--IANS

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Bengaluru, Feb 2 (IANS) The Karnataka government, in association with the Association of Bangalore Animation Industry (ABAI) and Startup Karnataka, on Monday announced the 7th edition of Bengaluru GAFX 2026, Asia’s largest annual conference and exhibition for animation, visual effects, gaming, comics, XR, and immersive and interactive content.

Scheduled to be held from February 27 to March 1 at Hotel Lalit Ashok in Bengaluru, the event will bring together creators, studios, technologists, investors, and industry leaders from across the global media and entertainment ecosystem.

In his remarks at the curtain raiser event, state Information Technology, Biotechnology and Science and Technology Minister Priyank Kharge said: "For over a decade, Bengaluru GAFX has been a key catalyst for India’s AVGC sector—bringing together talent, technology, policy and global opportunity on a single platform."

"'Evolution Reloaded' reflects Karnataka’s belief that the next phase of AVGC growth will be driven by the convergence of deep technology and human creativity. GAFX embodies our ambition to position Karnataka as a global hub for creative technology and next-generation storytelling," he added.

Electronics, IT, BT and Science and Technology Secretary Dr Manjula N. said: "Bengaluru GAFX reflects Karnataka’s long-term commitment to building a future-ready AVGC ecosystem across the entire value chain—from skilling and infrastructure to startups and global market access. Through focused initiatives such as the AVGC-XR Policy and the Centre of Excellence, we are translating policy intent into measurable industry impact and global partnerships."

ABAI President Biren Ghose said: "Bengaluru GAFX, in partnership with the Government of Karnataka, has reshaped how the world values India’s creative talent. ‘Evolution Reloaded’ is our declaration that the future of storytelling belongs to humans who can command new intelligence, including AI. GAFX is where that future takes shape."

Karnataka is at the forefront of India’s 'Orange Economy', where creativity, culture and cutting-edge technology converge. Backed by Bengaluru’s deep talent pool in digital content, gaming, VFX, XR, AI and real-time technologies, the state contributes close to 20 per cent of the country's media and entertainment industry, with 300-plus AVGC-XR studios and a workforce of around 15,000 professionals, supported by a strong freelance and gig ecosystem, he said.

--IANS

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