- Arvind's Newsletter
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- Arvind's Newsletter
1.OpenAI rolls out cheapest ChatGPT plan at $4.6 (Rs 399) in India to chase growth: Economic Times and others
OpenAI is targeting the Indian market with ChatGPT Go, a cheaper subscription. It costs Rs 399 per month. This offers more access than the free tier. India is a key market for OpenAI. They are customizing services for Indian users. UPI payments are now accepted. Competition is increasing from Gemini and Perplexity AI.
The announcement was made by Nick Turley, OpenAI’s vice president and head of ChatGPT, on X (formerly Twitter): “We just launched ChatGPT Go in India, a new subscription tier that gives users in India more access to our most popular features: 10x higher message limits, 10x more image generations, 10x more file uploads, and 2x longer memory compared with our free tier. All for Rs. 399.” This new tier is far more affordable than OpenAI’s other existing plans.The top-tier version of ChatGPT, ChatGPT Pro, is priced at Rs 19,900/month in India, while ChatGPT Plus, the mid-range plan, costs Rs 1,999/month.
For its mass market strategy, OpenAI is leveraging a mass market tool. Its users in India will now see subscription prices in rupees and can make payments via UPI (Unified Payment Interface), a move likely aimed at improving accessibility for common users.
2.China pledges to address India's rare earth needs : Reuters
There is an upward trend in India-China relations and Beijing has promised to address New Delhi's needs on rare earths, a top Indian official and a source said on Tuesday, as the neighbours rebuild ties that were damaged by a 2020 border clash.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting India for the 24th round of border talks with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and is also due to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, days before Modi travels to China for the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
3.The matrix, decoded: How QR codes are transforming payments in India: Business Standard
If there is a ubiquitous face of the digital world, it could well be a pixelated one: the QR code. On roadside stalls, payment gateways, airline boarding passes, restaurant menus, product packaging, newspaper ads, and a host of other things, the small black-and-white square (a standard QR code is square, though there are also rectangular versions) has become a universal gateway to payment, information, and interaction. And its use cases are only expanding.
The rise of the QR code has been dramatic. Affordable smartphones, cheap mobile data and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) have made it a default way of sending and receiving money for all kinds of merchants, online and offline. Beyond payment transactions, hospitals and diagnostic centres have started using QR codes to manage patient data. In colleges, students can scan these codes for assignments. And across companies, it could soon become the way to mark attendance.
4.Goldman Sachs Opens New Mumbai Office With Bigger Footprint: Bloomberg
The New York-based bank is now housed in Worli, a prominent commercial hub in Mumbai that is known for its high-end commercial real estate. The office premises are about 50% larger than its previous location in the city, according to a statement on Monday.
Occupying one and a half floors, the office features details that meets the firm’s global workplace standards like Zoom-enabled meeting rooms, height-adjustable desks and a cafe with on-site catering. It takes up more than 70,000 square feet.
“Our new Mumbai office is the next chapter in our multi-decade growth trajectory in India, underscoring the substantial opportunities we see in the market,” said Kevin Sneader, the firm’s Asia Pacific ex-Japan president. The bank employs about 8,500 people across its Indian offices.
The firm is among the top investment banks in India for M&A and equity capital markets activity. It is also an active investor, with more than $8.5 billion deployed in capital in the country since 2006.
5.FASTag Annual Pass: How To Get Your Annual Pass? NHAI Records ₹150 Crore Worth Of Registrations: Mint
6.Ukraine talks expose Trump’s dreadful attention to detail: FT Editorial Board View point
In their meetings at the White House on Monday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his European allies averted another diplomatic disaster after the fiasco of Donald Trump’s summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week. In Anchorage, the US president rolled over and aligned himself with Russia’s stance on ending the war. Many in Europe feared Trump would railroad Zelenskyy into a bad deal or punish him for rejecting one. Some skilfully co-ordinated messaging and plenty of flattery by the European side helped to avoid what would have been a terrible outcome for Ukraine, European security and the survival of the west.
Confident, overly so, in his ability to bring Putin to a peace deal, Trump said he would arrange a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents. It is unclear when it will take place or even whether the Kremlin will agree. In Trump’s peacemaking show, optics matter more than substance. The vague prospect of another meeting is enough to keep it moving forward.
European leaders are pleased that Trump gave them a more sympathetic hearing than they were braced for, but they did not fully wind back the clock to before Alaska. Trump has sided with Moscow over the need for a comprehensive settlement rather than a ceasefire and has dropped any hint of sanctions.
He did say on Monday it was up to Ukraine to discuss issues about land. But he seems to think that Ukraine could end the war “immediately” if it gave up the rest of Donetsk and Luhansk, which would be politically and militarily suicidal for Zelenskyy.
The most promising development was Trump’s support for some kind of US contribution to security guarantees for Ukraine after previously skating over the issue. By all accounts, this was the main topic of Monday’s proceedings. The president gave the Europeans an opening. Read on Gift article.
7.The nationalization of Intel? Wall Street Journal Editorial Board
The Trump Administration is reportedly negotiating to take a 10% stake in Intel Corp., in what would amount to a de facto nationalization of the storied but struggling semiconductor firm. Does President Trump really believe that the same government that has so mismanaged air-traffic control can turn around the chip-making giant?
News reports say the Trump team is looking to take an equity stake in Intel in return for funding for the company promised under the 2022 Chips Act. This is how industrial policy so often works in practice. Step one: Subsidize a struggling business. Step two: When subsidies aren’t enough, nationalize it. Step three: Make sure it never fails.
Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger lobbied hard for the Chips Act subsidies to support his expensive bet on expanding U.S. manufacturing to compete with TSMC and Samsung. But unlike most semiconductor companies, Intel both designs and manufacturers chips and it has fallen behind in both. Its chips have been plagued by quality problems, while its enormous investment and focus on manufacturing hasn’t helped its ability to compete in AI chip design with Nvidia and others.
The Biden Administration tried to ride to the rescue last year with up to $8.5 billion in direct grant funding and $11 billion in low-cost loans for Intel from the Chips Act. But as always with government largesse, it came with political strings attached. The Commerce Department press release touted in great detail Intel’s plans to expand child care for its workers. Scant mention of its plans to improve manufacturing.
Most of Intel’s award hasn’t been disbursed because the company has slowed its expansion plans amid weak demand for its chips. Biden Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo tried to drum up demand from tech companies but found few takers.
Intel ran a $18.8 billion loss last year and $3.8 billion during the first six months of this year. Such losses aren’t financially sustainable. Read on
8.Why do we hesitate to talk about our own good deeds? Psyche
Many people struggle with going public about their acts of kindness. They need not because disclosing acts of kindness could encourage more acts of kindness. This essay by Jerry Richardson of Cornell University appears in Psyche.
“Deep down, many of us would like others to know when we’ve helped a stranger, donated to a charity, or supported a friend who’s going through a difficult experience. But we sense that sharing the story ourselves would cost us something. As Oscar Wilde is credited with saying: ‘The nicest feeling in the world is to do a good deed anonymously – and have somebody find out.’ This line perfectly captures what my colleagues and I call ‘the do-gooder dilemma’: wanting your good deeds to be known, but not wanting to be the one who makes them known.” Read on.
9.FT and Schroders Business Book of the Year 2025 — the longlist
If you are looking for a good business book to read this may useful place to begin your search.
This years long list includes tales of geopolitics and growth — plus a rare novel.
The £30,000 Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award, also backed by FT owner Nikkei, aims to identify the title with the “most compelling and enjoyable” insights into modern business issues. Last year’s winner was Parmy Olson’s Supremacy, about the rivalry between pioneers of artificial intelligence.
A novel has made it on to the longlist for business book of the year for the first time in 15 years, joining a wide range of non-fiction titles on topical themes from geoeconomics to growth to geniuses. Alexander Starritt’s Drayton and Mackenzie, which follows the paths of two start-up entrepreneurs, is the first work of fiction to grace the list since Adam Haslett’s Union Atlantic in 2010, and only the third in the 21-year history of the prize.
Including Starritt’s book, 16 titles were filtered by FT journalists from more than 500 entries, to make up this year’s longlist. Read on Gift article.
10.Skibidi’, ‘delulu’ and ‘tradwife’ among words added to Cambridge Dictionary: The Guardian
“Skibidi”, “tradwife” and “delulu” are among the new words to have made this year’s Cambridge Dictionary in a selection that confirms the increasing influence of the TikTok generation on the English language.
For those hoping that such neologisms would be a passing internet craze, the compilers of the dictionary say they are here to stay.
Older generations and those not on TikTok will have just to get used to words such as skibidi. Children often use it to add emphasis to statements. It became popular thanks to Skibidi Toilet – a viral animated video that began on YouTube featuring human heads protruding from lavatories.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines skibidi as “a word that can have different meanings such as ‘cool’ or ‘bad’, or can be used with no real meaning as a joke’, an example of its use is: ‘What the skibidi are you doing?’”
