It’s a wrap: News this week (Feb 3 — Feb 9)

There have been multiple developments this week on the tech front. From Satya Nadella’s India visit to Ciklum’s acquisition, this is the list of the most important developments for a quick catch-up:

Google rebrands Bard

After weeks of anticipation, Google finally announced the rebranding of its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot Bard as Gemini. The company also introduced a paid tier and expanding its availability on mobile devices one year after its launch. According to a blog post, the move aligns with Alphabet's strategy to position Gemini as the primary brand for all current and future AI initiatives, akin to Microsoft's approach with its Copilot brand. 

Satya Nadella’s India visit

During his visit to India this week, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella announced an initiative to train around 2 million people in India with AI skills. “I'm very excited to announce a new initiative around skilling. We are going to equip over 2 million people in India with AI skills," he said. Microsoft also launched a unique AI Copilot for education. Called Shiksha Copilot, the tool aims at delivering ‘personalised learning experiences, craft assignments, devise interactive activities, and streamline daily planning tasks, thereby improving learning effectiveness and saving valuable time’. 

Nadella’s visit coincided with a couple of major local partnership announcements with companies like Persistent Systems, Sarvam AI, and Karya AI.

In-Space’s launch manifesto

Nodal agency for space mission authorisation under Center IN-SPACe introduced the Integrated Launch Manifesto for space launches utilising ISRO’s launch infrastructure, this week. The document projects 30 launches planned for 2023-24 (Q4) & 2024-25. ISRO will account for 16 missions — nine for research purpose and remainder towards for the Gaganyaan.

In a related news, following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with ISRO and IN-SPACe in September 2023, AWS announced an accelerator program focused on space sector. Called the AWS Space Accelerator: India, it aims to offer  technical, business, and mentorship opportunity to the startups. The program is also supported by T-Hub, and Minfy.

Ciklum acquires Infogen

London-headquartered Ciklum, on Wednesday, announced the acquisition of Infogen for an undisclosed amount. With this deal, the engineering firm specialising in customer experience expects to expand to the North American market and further increase its global footprint. The global workforce of about 350 employees of Infogen, which is US-headquartered and has a significant India presence (main office in Pune), will be added to Ciklum, with chief executive officer  Sanjeev Kuwadekar taking over the role as one of Ciklum’s managing directors.