A TikTok trend wherein users use AI to stage fake encounters with a 'homeless intruder' in their homes or schools and send these to family and relatives to provoke panic. The so-called prank has caused police in US and UK to issue warnings. UK's Dorset Police detailed receiving a call from an "extremely concerned parent" while condemning the hoax.

New Jersey influencer Jessica Tawil, paralysed from the waist down for 10 years, has gone viral after sharing an emotional video of herself walking again with advanced mobility technology. Overwhelmed, she exclaimed, "Oh my god! This is probably one of the most surreal moments of my life." Netizens flooded the post with love, calling it "the true purpose of technology."

Utility-based agents in AI operate by assessing multiple possible actions and choosing the one with optimal utility. Rather than fixed rule execution, they reason about trade-offs, risk, and rewards. This approach enhances flexibility in decision environments like resource allocation, scheduling, or autonomous systems. As complexity grows, these agents offer better balance autonomy and control.

Zoho unveiled Zoho Payments POS devices, QR devices and sound boxes, along with a range of payment solutions including payout capabilities, virtual accounts for collections, and marketplace settlements. In 2024, Zoho introduced Zoho Payments, a unified payment gateway to help businesses securely accept payments from their customers.

Intelligent Process Automation merges AI components like machine learning and NLP with workflow automation to move beyond rote tasks. It handles unstructured data, makes decisions under uncertainty, and continuously learns. Unlike traditional automation, IPA adapts, making it ideal for finance, operations, and customer support. Used well, it unlocks efficiency gains and scalable innovation.

Zoho Co-founder Sridhar Vembu responded to Amit Shah's post about his switch from Gmail to Zoho Mail. "Thank you for your faith in us...I dedicate this moment to our hard-working engineers who have toiled hard in Zoho for over 20 years," Vembu said. "They all stayed in India...worked all these years because they believed...Their faith is vindicated," he added.

Direct selling in India is entering a new era as digital channels, influencer partnerships, and hybrid models take center stage. From livestream commerce and social selling to automated back-end systems, the future blends personal outreach with digital scale. Firms that invest in transparent value chains, training, and regulatory compliance will lead in this evolving ecosystem.

The Indian banking sector is undergoing rapid transformation driven by generative AI, open banking, and platform-as-a-service models. Trends include AI-powered risk detection, API ecosystems enabling embedded finance, and seamless omnichannel experiences. As regulatory frameworks and data privacy norms evolve, banks must adapt digitally to stay competitive and foster deeper customer engagement.

Edtech firms must balance credibility with innovation. Effective brand strategies include publishing research and insights, showcasing student outcomes, creating communities of practice, and leveraging peer reviews or educator endorsements. When messaging emphasizes learning impact over features, it fosters trust. Over time, this positioning helps differentiate in competitive markets.

AI is redefining logistics through route optimisation, predictive demand forecasting, automated warehouses, and real-time visibility. Algorithms simulate traffic, weather, and demand patterns, adjusting supply chains dynamically. Combined with robotics, logistics becomes more resilient, cost-efficient, and agile. AI in logistics reduces delays, cuts overheads, and improves customer satisfaction.

An X user, whose profile shows they're a web designer, thanked Preplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas while sharing a video showing them completing a course using Comet. Srinivas reacted to the post, saying, "Absolutely don't do this." The techie later replied to Srinivas' warning, claiming that the course they completed was 'AI Ethics, Responsibility and Creativity'.

Not all platforms yield the same return. Businesses should focus where audience engagement, reach, and appropriateness align. Key platforms often include messaging apps with catalog features, visual communities, and short video hubs. High response rates, seamless transactions, and multi-format support help prioritize channels that effectively convert interaction into business value.

Incubators offer structured programs, mentorship, shared infrastructure, and access to early-stage networks. They help founders refine product ideas, validate business models, and connect with customer pilots or investors. Because incubators mitigate initial risk, startups can iterate faster with support, avoid common pitfalls, and tap into learning that accelerate their growth trajectory.

Business ventures vary: from lifestyle and small enterprises to scalable startups, social ventures, and franchises. Each type carries different risk profiles, capital needs, growth models, and exit strategies. For instance, lifestyle ventures aim for sustainable income, while scalable startups target rapid expansion. Understanding your venture type helps define strategy, and success metrics.

OpenAI uncovered that suspected Chinese operatives exploited ChatGPT to design surveillance systems targeting Uyghur Muslims and other minorities. They also used AI to create propaganda and monitor social media for "extremist" content. These findings highlight growing risks of AI misuse to bolster authoritarian control and cyber operations amid escalating US-China AI rivalry.

Google plans to invest USD 10 billion to build its largest data centre outside the US in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The project will create over 1.88 lakh jobs, contribute more than ₹10,500 crore annually to GSDP, and position Vizag as "AI City." The state will develop an Emerging Technologies Cluster to support AI, cloud, and digital innovation.

North Korean hackers stole over $2 billion in cryptocurrency assets in 2025, marking the largest theft, a report stated. The theft tripled last year's total, representing 13% of North Korea's estimated GDP and bringing the regime's crypto theft to $6 billion since 2017. The $1.46-billion hack of cryptocurrency exchange Bybit in February has also been attributed to North Korean hackers.

Payment apps PhonePe and Paytm have helped citizens avert potential financial frauds worth ₹200 crore by using Department of Telecom's (DoT) Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) platform, PhonePe Co-founder Rahul Chari said. The payment apps have frozen over 10 lakh accounts and wallets by using FRI's data, he added. "They have blocked more than 48 lakh suspicious transactions," Chari further said.

The Bank of England has warned of an increasing risk of a sharp correction in global markets amid soaring valuations of leading AI tech companies. "Equity market valuations appear stretched, particularly for technology companies focused on AI," said the bank. "This...leaves equity markets particularly exposed should expectations around the impact of AI become less optimistic," it added.

UK's fintech firm Revolut will launch its payment platform in India, marking its entry into one of the world's largest digital payments markets. The platform will allow Indians to make domestic and international payments through partnerships with UPI and Visa. It'll be initially available to 3.5 lakh customers, while Revolut has set target of signing up 20-million customers by 2030.

UPI has reached 500 million consumers and 65 million merchants in India as the system evolved from "digital payment platform into daily habit", a report stated. It has set a new global benchmark, accounting for nearly 50% of global real-time payment volumes and 84% of all retail digital payments within India. UPI Autopay transactions have tripled over the past year.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai congratulated Michel Devoret, John Martinis and John Clarke for winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics. "Michel is chief scientist of hardware at our Quantum AI lab and Martinis led the hardware team for many years," said Pichai. "Feeling lucky...to work at a company that has had five Nobel laureates among our ranks," he added.

Zoho Co-founder Sridhar Vembu explained different cases of privacy on Arattai app. He said the company works hard to ensure privacy in the "secret lover case", referring to personal communication or trade secrets. However, in the "secret rebel case", Vembu said Zoho must comply with national laws. "Rebels can't expect courts to affirm their right to plot against...government," he added.

SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the regulator is preparing an action plan to safeguard financial markets from potential risks posed by the upcoming era of quantum computing. The technology could make it possible for bad actors to compromise passwords, he stated. He added that traditional cryptographic methods like 128-bit encryption "would be the first to break".

Razorpay CEO Harshil Mathur said AI will make online transactions instantaneous, with payments and credit processing happening in the background. "Payments will happen within a span of one second or two seconds," he stated. He added that the speed of underwriting, KYC and financial disbursement is "going through the roof" because of AI.