Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Tuesday announced plans to invest $17.5 billion in India to help build infrastructure and sovereign capabilities for the country's AI-first future, marking the third major AI-driven investment in the country in the past two months. Microsoft said that the $17.5 billion (around Rs 1.58 lakh crore) investment builds on the $3 billion (around Rs 26,955 crore) funding announced earlier this year, which the company is on track to spend by the end of CY (calendar year) 2026.
India is emerging as Claude.ai's second-largest user base, driven by strong adoption in coding, maths and enterprise AI tasks.
Microsoft founder and Gates Foundation chairman Bill Gates on Tuesday hailed Andhra Pradesh's rapid development, saying it was exciting to see the state's growth being accelerated through AI and technology.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is promoting India as a global hub for digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence, highlighting the government's incentives for data center investments and inviting the world's data to reside in India.
Confusion prevailed on Tuesday over Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates attending the high-profile AI Impact Summit with government sources saying he will not attend the meeting while a spokesperson of his foundation contradicted, saying he is. Gates featured among the tech moguls, industry leaders, policymakers, founders, and technologists listed as speakers on the official website of the AI Impact Summit, underway in the national capital from February 16-20.
The organisation further clarified that it will be represented by Ankur Vora, President of Africa and India Offices, who 'will speak later today at the Summit'.
Adani group on Tuesday announced a $100 billion investment to develop hyperscale, artificial intelligence (AI)-ready data centres powered by renewable energy by 2035. The initiative is expected to catalyse an extra $150 billion in investment across server manufacturing, electrical infrastructure, Cloud platforms, and supporting industries over the next decade.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption has led firms to moderate hiring, primarily at the entry-level, according to a report.
Nothing's offshoot, CMF, has stepped into the over-ear audio space with the India debut of its very first model, the CMF Headphone Pro.
'Perhaps unlike any previous era of software, this one requires a rethink in even the lifecycle of how we build.'
US Representative Greg Steube, a Republican from Florida, introduced the 'Ending Exploitative Imported Labour Exemptions Act or EXILE Act', a bill that would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act by ending the H-1B visa programme.
The Union Budget on Sunday proposed a tax holiday till 2047 for foreign companies that provide cloud services to customers globally using data centres located in India, signalling the government's push to make the country a major hub for AI and digital infrastructure.
The Union Budget on Sunday proposed a tax holiday till 2047 for foreign companies that provide cloud services to customers globally using data centres located in India, signalling the government's push to make the country a major hub for AI and digital infrastructure.
As India's biggest Unified Payments Interface (UPI) app PhonePe prepares to list, the updated draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) shows the impact of regulations on the business, and concentration of payments-linked revenue even as UPI lacks MDR (merchant discount rate).
The government's Budget announcements providing tax holiday for data centres, setting up of city economic regions (CERs) and funding to improve infrastructure in Tier-II and -III cities may give an indirect boost to India's realty sector, said industry executives.
'We frequently discuss AI, but we're waiting for other countries to develop solutions rather than creating intellectual property ourselves.' 'We haven't yet produced comprehensive AI solutions developed in India for global markets.'
Microsoft Corp has restored all services -- including email access -- to Russian oil giant Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy, just before a scheduled hearing in the Delhi high court over the service suspension.
India's $280-billion IT industry heads into 2026, balancing visa-related headwinds and global trade uncertainty against its biggest-ever push into artificial intelligence and the rapid expansion of global capability centres (GCCs). Heightened scrutiny of the US H-1B visa programme - including a proposed $100,000 fee for new visas and concerns over a potential 25 per cent outsourcing tax - has complicated cross-border delivery for Indian firms, even as companies accelerate efforts to reduce reliance on onsite staffing.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has directed state agencies and public universities to suspend new H-1B visa petitions through May 2027, a move likely to affect Indian professionals. The order comes amid ongoing debate over skilled immigration and potential impacts on academic research and innovation.
Indian IT leaders are betting big on agentic AI adoption for business growth compared to the leading western market, where focus is on enhancing traditional efficiency, a survey report by technology consultancy firm Thoughtworks said. The company has claimed to cover 3,500 C-suite and senior IT decision makers across seven countries, including 500 in India.
Budget 2026 sticks to fiscal discipline, shuns populist measures despite five key state elections coming up, but ends up rattling stock markets with a higher transaction tax on derivatives trading.
Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella met Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the second time this year.
Satya's visit was focused on India's AI roadmap, backed by a $17.5 billion commitment for infrastructure and skill-building.
'The real story of 2025 is that India officially stopped being a 'market of the future' and started acting as the world's primary economic engine.'
FDI inflows into India are expected to register robust growth in 2026, supported by strong macroeconomic fundamentals, big-ticket investment announcements, sustained efforts to improve the ease of doing business, and a new generation of investment-linked trade pacts.
E-commerce giant Amazon plans to make a mega-investment of $35 billion, over Rs 3.14 lakh crore, in India by 2030 across its businesses with a focus on AI-driven digitization, export growth and job creation, a senior company official said on Wednesday.
With a confident new generation of innovators, India now has the scale and self-belief to shape its own digital destiny marked by creation, observes Ajay Kumar chairman, UPSC.
'If we don't become part of this, if we don't embrace this particular technology, millionaire brands might go down, which we cannot allow.'
"Microsoft Windows reports major service outages globally. IT services/ check in systems at airports are impacted," as per a message for the passengers at the Varanasi airport.
The Telangana government plans to name a road after Ratan Tata. Other roads may be named after Google, Microsoft and Wipro.
Asia takes the lead, boasting four Indian cities on the list, according to the 2024 Savills Growth Hubs Index.
India, the world's fourth largest economy, is set to maintain the 'goldilocks' phase with tailwinds of good growth, low inflation and robust banking performance as well as reform initiatives poised to sustain the economic pace witnessed during 2025.
Across all sectors, the future of work depends on adaptability.
'When AI comes in, coders in Bangalore or Hyderabad will lose their jobs.'
'More and more people from the middle class will become self-employed gig workers mostly working from home, rather than as office workers with salary, promotion, bonuses, etc.'
The US has replaced random H-1B selection with a wage-weighted lottery and a new $100,000 fee for applications, raising uncertainty for students and junior hires.
'Our problem is not a budget deficit but a trust deficit. We need to trust our institutions and industries to innovate and lead. That is the way forward for India.'
...compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
Professionals will be required to either learn new tech skills that focus on AI, cloud computing, or risk becoming obsolete, says Arun Prakash M.
EPF doesn't just build your retirement fund -- it also provides free life insurance up to Rs 7 lakh under the EDLI scheme.
'The danger is that when the music stops, the fall will be sudden, faster, and deeper than anyone expects,' warns Debashis Basu.
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