This Week In Tech
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This Week In Tech
Welcome to the latest edition of our tech newsletter! In this issue, we'll bring you up to speed on the latest developments in the tech industry. From new product releases to the hottest trends, we've got you covered. So sit back, relax, and let's dive into the world of tech!
India's Emergence as a Global Tech Manufacturing Hub
India has traditionally been a software kingdom, but is poised to change that. It has a large and growing skilled labor force, cheap labor, and foreign companies infusing new technologies into India. Economic growth potential attracts international investment, and 150 new venture capital firms have been established in India to fund technology startups. This has the potential to create a virtuous cycle, allowing homegrown technology entrepreneurs to leverage the country's affordable labor supply and manufacturing capabilities to produce technology products domestically. There is precedent for this in China, where Apple incubated startups such as Xiaomi and Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd. in the 2010s.
India's labor force is growing, leading to increased demand for consumer goods. The country's GDP has grown rapidly, and Deloitte predicts that India will be the world's largest consumer market by 2030. India's government has implemented policies to catalyze supply chain investment, such as the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Large Scale Manufacturing. However, the incentive plan is too diversified and the government may not have enough resources to support all sectors. India is destined to become a dominant player in the global technology supply chain, just like China did two decades ago.
To capitalize on this opportunity, India should use the PLI framework to identify a more specific industry target within the next five years and focus on accelerating growth. China's overall share of exports reached a peak of 36% in 2006.
The Unique Approach of OpenAI: What Sets It Apart from Google
Sibling rivalry is a big problem in tech, as it prevented the two AI labs within Google's parent Alphabet from working together until recently. OpenAI's ability to get its researchers and engineers working together was a major factor in its success. Google is trying to get its act together, but this episode may be evidence of how Google is losing its edge. OpenAI CEO Greg Brockman and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai are two of the most important leaders in the tech world. Google CEO Sundar Pichai has not yet achieved his goal of becoming 20% more productive, and Microsoft's Bing chatbot is unwilling to hazard a guess.
Comcast is financially in a good place, with more cash last year than Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox Corp., Charter Communications, Netflix and Paramount Global combined. Shareholders hope CEO Brian Roberts does better than he did with his last big purchase, of European satellite TV firm Sky.
TikTok Shopping Is Off to a Slow Start
TikTok has invited hundreds of U.S. merchants to join its shopping service in November, but fewer than 100 of them are using it as of last month. This is due to the threat of a TikTok ban, the difficulty of live shopping streams, and the lack of success on other social media platforms. TikTok's reach of 150 million U.S. users and its position in the pop-culture firmament could pose a serious threat to established online retailers, but e-commerce has been a tough nut to crack for U.S. social media networks.
Garry Tan's Controversial Start as Y Combinator CEO: Founders React
Y Combinator's new CEO and president Garry Tan's decision to shutter a fund investing in mature startups has caused an uproar among founders backed by the accelerator. Ten startups, including YC graduates such as Deel and Brex, have signed a letter requesting that Hariharan and Rowghani keep their board seats. The outcry is a sign of the tensions surfacing in Silicon Valley, where the megarounds and hiring sprees of 2020-21 have given way to slashed valuations and mass layoffs. YC will work out the specific issue of its seats on startup boards with each individual company. YC's decision to end its Continuity fund, started by former YC president Sam Altman, shows the challenges of shaking up an industry fixture during a time of rising anxiety.
The letter was signed by live shopping startup Whatnot and delivery business Rappi, digital freight network Convoy and neobank Monzo, which graduated from the accelerator and then raised capital from the fund. YC has raised more than $3 billion for its Continuity funds from limited partners including Yale University. YC announced in March that it was ending the Continuity fund and laid off 17 employees, citing a pullback in demand for older startups. Global funding for late-stage startups dropped to $43 billion in the first quarter, down 54% from the year-ago quarter. YC is not backing away from investing in more-mature startups, but plans to make follow-on investments and lead some rounds at Series B and later stages.
YC's decision to cut the Continuity fund was met with criticism from BioRender, Whatnot, Flexport, and Vetcove. BioRender CEO Shiz Aoki called the strategy shift "un-founder-friendly" and Flexport founder Ryan Petersen defended the decision. The startups expressed frustration with YC notifying them via email and allowing a different YC employee to assume the board seats belonging to Hariharan and Rowghani.
That's all for this edition of our tech newsletter. We hope you found the information we shared useful and informative. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future topics, please don't hesitate to let us know. Until next time, keep exploring the exciting world of technology!