75 CaratLane employees are in line to receive ESOP payouts as Titan looks to acquire most of the remaining 1.72% stake in startup by October The payouts will not cover a majority of CaratLane’s 1,500 retail and manufacturing workforce, which is largely compensated through bonuses and hikes Tata-owned Titan, last week, said it would acquire an additional 27.18% stake in CaratLane for INR 4,621 Cr, effectively pegging the jewellery startup at a mammoth $2 Bn valuation Employees of CaratLane are reportedly set to receive INR 340 Cr to INR 380 Cr from ESOP buyback by Titan as the Tata-backed company aims to own a 100% stake in the omnichannel jewellery startup. It must be noted that Titan, last week, announced its plan to acquire an additional 27.18% stake in CaratLane for INR 4,621 Cr, increasing its stake in the startup to 98.28% from 71.09%. While the deal is still subject to regulatory approvals, the startup raked up a valuation of INR 17,000 Cr ($2 Bn), effectively turning it into a unicorn. CaratLane cofounder and CEO Mithun Sacheti told Moneycontrol that employee stock option plan (ESOP) comprises the remaining 1.72% of the startup’s shareholding and this remaining stake will be bought out by Titan by the time the deal closes in October this year.  “The ESOP component (of 1.72% in the company) will also be bought out at the same time by the end of October. A bunch of it will be done by then and whatever remains, Titan will buy as and when the vesting happens,” said Sacheti. As per the report, the omnichannel brand has a workforce of 1,500 people. Of this, 75 employees, who are part of the corporate team, are expected to receive ESOP payouts in the range of INR 340-380 Cr as they account for around 1.72% shareholding in the company.  It is pertinent to note that a majority of its employees, around 1,100, work across retail and manufacturing verticals and are largely compensated through bonuses and hikes only. ESOPs are only imparted to the corporate team which accounts for 400 employees. Founded in 2008 by Sacheti and Srinivasa Gopalan, CaratLane is an omnichannel startup that sells and manufactures jewellery items in India and the US. The company logged a total income of INR 2,177 Cr in FY23, up 71% from INR 1,267 Cr in FY22.  The development comes at a time when a bunch of Indian startups have announced ESOP payout initiatives. Just months ago, ecommerce giant Flipkart announced its $700 Mn ESOP buyback scheme, offering employees a one-time cash payout owing to the demerger of PhonePe.  In July, Swiggy commenced the second phase of its ESOP liquidation initiative pegged at $50 Mn, while Zypp Electric also announced a ESOP buyback programme worth INR 1.5 Cr. Apart from this, a slew of Indian startups have announced additional stock options to retain employees as they look to chart out a profitable growth and spend cautiously.  In the past one month, major listed new-age tech startups such as Nazara, Paytm and Zomato have either received board approval or initiated the allotment of additional ESOPs for its employees as they look to further scale profitable growth. As per an Inc42 report, employees of homegrown startups made more than $196 Mn via various ESOP buyback schemes in 2022.

Given enough data, one can feel like it’s possible to keep dead loved ones alive. With ChatGPT and other powerful large language models, it is feasible to create a more convincing chatbot of a dead person. But doing so, especially in the face of scarce resources and inevitable decay, ignores the massive amounts of labor that go into keeping the dead alive online. Someone always has to do the hard work of maintaining automated systems, as demonstrated by the overworked and underpaid annotators and content moderators behind generative AI, and this is also true where replicas of the dead are concerned. From managing a digital estate after gathering passwords and account information, to navigating a slowly-decaying inherited smart home, digital death care practices require significant upkeep. Content creators depend on the backend labor of caregivers and a network of human and nonhuman entities, from specific operating systems and devices to server farms, to keep digital heirlooms alive across generations. Updating formats and keeping those electronic records searchable, usable, and accessible requires labor, energy, and time. This is a problem for archivists and institutions, but also for individuals who might want to preserve the digital belongings of their dead kin. And even with all of this effort, devices, formats, and websites also die, just as we frail humans do. Despite the fantasy of an automated home that can run itself in perpetuity or a website that can survive for centuries, planned obsolescence means these systems will most certainly decay. As people tasked with maintaining the digital belongings of dead loved ones can attest, there is a stark difference between what people think they want, or what they expect others to do, and the reality of what it means to help technologies persist over time. The mortality of both people and technology means that these systems will ultimately stop working. Early attempts to create AI-backed replicas of dead humans certainly bear this out. Intellitar’s Virtual Eternity, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, launched in 2008 and used images and speech patterns to simulate a human’s personality, perhaps filling in for someone at a business meeting or chatting with grieving loved ones after a person’s death. Writing for CNET, a reviewer dubbed Intellitar the product “most likely to make children cry.” But soon after the company went under in 2012, its website disappeared. LifeNaut, a project backed by the transhumanist organization Terasem—which is also known for creating BINA48, a robotic version of Bina Aspen, the wife of Terasem’s founder—will purportedly combine genetic and biometric information with personal datastreams to simulate a full-fledged human being once technology makes it possible to do so. But the project’s site itself relies on outmoded Flash software, indicating that the true promise of digital immortality is likely far off and will require updates along the way. With generative AI, there is speculation that we might be able to create even more convincing facsimiles of humans, including dead ones. But this requires vast resources, including raw materials, water, and energy, pointing to the folly of maintaining chatbots of the dead in the face of catastrophic climate change. It also has astronomical financial costs: ChatGPT purportedly costs $700,000 a day to maintain, and will bankrupt OpenAI by 2024. This is not a sustainable model for immortality. There is also the question of who should have the authority to create these replicas in the first place: a close family member, an employer, a company? Not everyone would want to be reincarnated as a chatbot. In a 2021 piece for the San Francisco Chronicle, the journalist Jason Fagone recounts the story of a man named Joshua Barbeau who produced a chatbot version of his long-dead fiancée Jessica using OpenAI’s GPT-3. It was a way for him to cope with death and grief, but it also kept him invested in a close romantic relationship with a person who was no longer alive. This was also not the way that Jessica’s other loved ones wanted to remember her; family members opted not to interact with the chatbot.

Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and Microsoft Edge are three of the most popular web browsers, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. One critical aspect of a browser’s performance is its RAM consumption, as it has a direct impact on the user experience and system resource utilisation. In the realm of web browsers, there is a trade-off between performance, features, and memory consumption. The RAM consumption of these browsers is determined by factors such as the number of tabs open, extensions installed, and the overall optimisation for the operating system. Let’s compare the RAM consumption of these three browsers.In general, Google Chrome is known for being a memory hog, while Apple Safari and Microsoft Edge are more efficient in their use of RAM. However, the specific RAM consumption of each browser will vary depending on the factors mentioned above. For example, if you have a lot of tabs open and extensions installed, Chrome will likely consume more RAM than Safari or Edge. Conversely, if you only have a few tabs open and no extensions installed, Chrome may be more efficient than the other two browsers.Ultimately, the best way to determine which browser is right for you is to try them all and see which one performs the best on your system. Here we explain the RAM consumption process for each browserGoogle ChromeGoogle Chrome is renowned for its speed and rich feature set, but it’s often criticised for its high RAM consumption. Chrome’s design philosophy prioritises speed and compatibility, which can lead to elevated RAM usage, especially when multiple tabs are open.The browser uses a process-per-tab model, which means each tab runs in its own separate process. While this provides security and isolation benefits, it also results in a higher RAM overhead. When users open numerous tabs simultaneously, Chrome’s memory usage can quickly escalate.However, Google has been actively working on mitigating Chrome’s memory issues. Chrome’s task manager allows users to identify and terminate memory-intensive tabs or extensions. Additionally, the introduction of features like “Tab Discarding” and “Tab Freezing” helps reduce the impact of inactive tabs on memory usage.Apple SafariSafari, Apple’s default web browser, is known for its efficiency and optimisation for macOS and iOS devices. Apple has focused on keeping Safari’s RAM consumption low while delivering a smooth browsing experience.Safari employs a different approach compared to Chrome. It uses a process hierarchy that groups related tabs into a single process. This grouping reduces memory overhead by sharing resources among tabs in the same group. The browser also employs techniques like Intelligent Tracking Prevention to limit the background activities that contribute to RAM usage.Safari’s low RAM consumption is particularly evident in devices with limited memory, such as iPhones and iPads. Apple’s tight integration of hardware and software enables Safari to optimise resource allocation, resulting in efficient browsing even on devices with modest memory capacities.Microsoft EdgeMicrosoft Edge has undergone a significant transformation in recent years. The new Chromium-based Edge inherits some of the memory consumption patterns of Chrome, but Microsoft has made efforts to optimise its performance.Like Chrome, the Chromium-based Edge uses a process-per-tab model, contributing to higher RAM usage when multiple tabs are open. However, Microsoft has implemented features to reduce memory consumption, such as “Sleeping Tabs,” which places inactive tabs in a low-resource state to free up memory.Microsoft has also improved its memory management, ensuring that Edge releases unused memory more efficiently. This reduces the browser’s overall footprint and prevents unnecessary memory hogging.

Engineering is a wide-reaching sector that encompasses numerous specialities. While this means that it can be easy to set up in your niche, you may also find that you have a lot of competition. Setting up a successful business, regardless of your industry, comes with unique challenges that will need to be overcome, but with dedication and determination, you can turn your brand into a thriving business. Are you looking to turn your engineering company into the success story that you’ve always dreamed of? Here are just five fantastic tips to help you get started. 1. Conduct Continual Market Research Markets are constantly changing and evolving, and therefore conducting continued market research will help you to stay on top of technologies and trends. Getting feedback from your clients and customers is a great place to start, and with services such as SurveyMonkey, you can put together useful surveys that will provide you with actionable insights for your brand. When you’re able to stay on top of industry trends, you’ll be able to keep customers engaged and outperform your competition. 2. Ensure Staff are Skilled With an industry such as engineering, it’s vital that all of your staff are trained to the highest standard. You want to ensure that you hire engineers that are able to complete jobs on time and to budget, but most importantly, to meet health and safety requirements. Consider scouting from universities to find engineers who have received all of the latest qualifications. 3. Use Quality Materials To ensure that your jobs are completed to a high standard and are built to last, you want to use only top-quality materials in your projects. If you’re looking to source your materials from a trusted supplier, then consider a brand such as Accu. These experts will be able to advise you on the perfect products for your project, and supply you with the materials you need to help you succeed. photo credit: ThisisEngineering RAEng / Unsplash 4. Deliver on Your Promises No business, regardless of industry, can hope to succeed if they fail to deliver on the promises that they give their customers. You want to ensure that you give realistic estimates when it comes to costs and the time it will take you to complete a job. Unfortunately, while word of mouth recommendations are a powerful tool, customers are far more likely to be vocal about negative experiences than they are about positive ones. This makes it essential to leave every client singing your praises. 5. Create a Positive User Experience on Your Website Ensuring that you create a website that is easy for your customers to use and navigate, and find the information that they need, is essential. With platforms such as WordPress, you can create a high quality website with a range of plugins that makes the experience pleasant for all involved – you and your customers. Now Over to You! Have you launched an engineering business? Share your tips and tricks in the comments below!

ChatGPT may well revolutionize web search, streamline office chores, and remake education, but the smooth-talking chatbot has also found work as a social media crypto huckster. Researchers at Indiana University Bloomington discovered a botnet powered by ChatGPT operating on X—the social network formerly known as Twitter—in May of this year. The botnet, which the researchers dub Fox8 because of its connection to cryptocurrency websites bearing some variation of the same name, consisted of 1,140 accounts. Many of them seemed to use ChatGPT to craft social media posts and to reply to each other’s posts. The auto-generated content was apparently designed to lure unsuspecting humans into clicking links through to the crypto-hyping sites. Micah Musser, a researcher who has studied the potential for AI-driven disinformation, says the Fox8 botnet may be just the tip of the iceberg, given how popular large language models and chatbots have become. “This is the low-hanging fruit,” Musser says. “It is very, very likely that for every one campaign you find, there are many others doing more sophisticated things.” The Fox8 botnet might have been sprawling, but its use of ChatGPT certainly wasn’t sophisticated. The researchers discovered the botnet by searching the platform for the tell-tale phrase “As an AI language model …”, a response that ChatGPT sometimes uses for prompts on sensitive subjects. They then manually analyzed accounts to identify ones that appeared to be operated by bots. “The only reason we noticed this particular botnet is that they were sloppy,” says Filippo Menczer, a professor at Indiana University Bloomington who carried out the research with Kai-Cheng Yang, a student who will join Northeastern University as a postdoctoral researcher for the coming academic year. Despite the tic, the botnet posted many convincing messages promoting cryptocurrency sites. The apparent ease with which OpenAI’s artificial intelligence was apparently harnessed for the scam means advanced chatbots may be running other botnets that have yet to be detected. “Any pretty-good bad guys would not make that mistake,” Menczer says. OpenAI had not responded to a request for comment about the botnet by time of posting. The usage policy for its AI models prohibits using them for scams or disinformation. ChatGPT, and other cutting-edge chatbots, use what are known as large language models to generate text in response to a prompt. With enough training data (much of it scraped from various sources on the web), enough computer power, and feedback from human testers, bots like ChatGPT can respond in surprisingly sophisticated ways to a wide range of inputs. At the same time, they can also blurt out hateful messages, exhibit social biases, and make things up. A correctly configured ChatGPT-based botnet would be difficult to spot, more capable of duping users, and more effective at gaming the algorithms used to prioritize content on social media. “It tricks both the platform and the users,” Menczer says of the ChatGPT-powered botnet. And, if a social media algorithm spots that a post has a lot of engagement—even if that engagement is from other bot accounts—it will show the post to more people. “That’s exactly why these bots are behaving the way they do,” Menczer says. And governments looking to wage disinformation campaigns are most likely already developing or deploying such tools, he adds.

Is the most followed man on X (formerly Twitter) ‘really’ the most followed on X? If a recent analysis is to be believed then it might not be the case. According to a report by Mashable, which cites analytics data from a third-party researcher, most of Elon Musk’s followers aren’t really real. As of last count, Elon Musk has over 153 million followers on Twitter. Data shared by researcher Travis Brown with Mashable reveals that almost 42% of Musk’s followers (nearly 65 million users) have zero followers of their own. Moreover, over 72% of those followers (nearly 112 million) have less than 10 followers. This means that a large portion of Musk’s followers are not active on Twitter and are not following anyone else. This could be due to a number of factors, such as bots, inactive accounts, or people who simply do not use Twitter regularly.62.5 million of Elon Musk’s followers have never posted anything on the platform. Furthermore, over 100 million of his followers have posted less than 10 times. This means that a large percentage of Musk’s followers are not active users of Twitter. It is possible that these followers are simply fans of Musk and want to stay up-to-date on his latest news and announcements, but do not use Twitter for their own personal use. It is also possible that some of these followers are bots or fake accounts.The data also reveals that more than 25% of Elon Musk’s total followers on Twitter joined the platform on or after October 27, 2022, the day he officially acquired Twitter. This means that a significant number of people became interested in following Musk on Twitter after he became the owner of the platform. It is possible that these new followers were interested in seeing what changes Musk will make to Twitter. Or again, these could just be bots. Can Musk’s followers be ‘fake’?A few days before Musk acquired the social media platform, he tweeted, “If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!” It turns out that a vast chunk of his own followers may just be bot accounts. Chances are that a lot of Musk’s followers are fake or bot accounts. To spot a fake or bot account, there are certain characteristics that need to be noted. Take the case of accounts that have usernames that seem auto-generated or have a series of numbers, then chances are it is a fake or bot account. Or there are accounts that don’t follow or follow very few accounts.In Musk’s case, 38 million of his followers use the default profile picture, which is given to all new accounts registered on that platform. Furthermore, 40 per cent of Musk’s followers have four or more numbers in their usernames. About 44 million of Musk’s followers follow less than 10 people on X and 13.5 million users follow just one account — Musk’s.

The government will shortly notify the appointment and recruitment rules for its chairperson and members Currently, the government is working on criteria for the selection of members and chairperson, and rules in regards to the board’s working The government is planning to hold a consultation process with relevant stakeholders Following the approval of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill, 2023, by both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the government is now gearing up to promptly notify the establishment of the Data Protection Board (DPB). Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, stated that the government will soon announce the chairperson and members’ appointment and recruitment guidelines, as ET reported. Presently, the government is actively formulating the criteria for selecting members and the chairperson, as well as establishing rules governing the functioning of the board. Additionally, efforts are underway to define the procedures for the appeal process at the Telecommunications Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). The minister also added that the work on rules for personal data breach reporting and other market-wide obligations have also begun. The government is planning to hold a consultation process with relevant stakeholders. “Wherever required, opinions of appropriate experts and stakeholders will also be taken,” he said. The bill, which became law after President Droupadi Murmu granted her assent, aims to replace existing data protection laws, largely enforced via Section 43A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The DPDP Act defines terms such as ‘personal data’ and ‘processing’. According to the new law, personal data as any data that can help identify an individual ‘by or in relation’ to such data. The act also has the concept of user consent, meaning that data can only be processed with the user’s prior permission and only for lawful and specified legitimate purposes. The Data Protection Board of India will monitor compliance and impose penalties. It can also advise the government on blocking access to an intermediary if provisions related to the bill are violated more than twice. For data breaches, entities may have to pay up to INR 250 Cr penalty. As per the Act, penalties would be imposed by the Data Protection Board after conducting an inquiry and TDSAT will be the appellate body for decisions of the proposed board. Although the Act provides much-needed clarity to users on how corporations can use their data. Besides the opposition, it has also received criticism from industry stakeholders. There are concerns that this bill would lead to state-sponsored surveillance of citizens and violate citizens’ right to privacy.

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X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has deleted images and posts dating back to before December 2014. The deletion has affected many users, who have lost access to photos, videos, and other content they posted on the platform in the early years.This allegedly happened due to a technical glitch that affected tweets published before December 2014.Confusion around old tweetsBack then they were called tweets only and there seems to be some confusion around them. A report by The Verge indicates that the famous Ellen Degeneres selfie isn’t visible to users on X. However, former US President Barack Obama’s image of hugging Michelle Obama after being reelected as president in 2012 is still visible on the platform. So far, neither X’s official support account nor Twitter owner or CEO have mentioned anything about the glitch. The post deletion comes at a time when the billionaire owner of Twitter raised a rather controversial matter. No more ‘blocks’ on TwitterMeanwhile, Elon Musk has said that he believes the blocking feature on Twitter “makes no sense” and that it should be replaced with a “stronger form of mute.” He has also said that he plans to remove the ability to block users altogether.Musk’s comments have been met with mixed reactions. Some people agree with him that the blocking feature is too restrictive and that it can be used to silence dissenting voices. Others argue that the blocking feature is an essential tool for protecting users from harassment and abuse.Musk also said that “Instead of blocking, I think there should be a stronger form of mute” and that he is “definitely open to ideas on how to improve the blocking/muting feature.” It remains to be seen how Musk’s plans for the blocking feature will affect Twitter users. However, Musk’s comments have certainly irked a few and chances are he might just go through with it being a “free speech absolutist” – something he refers to himself as.

The partnership will open up Jio’s prepaid users for acquisition by Netflix and will enable the streaming company to leverage Jio as an effective distribution channel For the first time in India, Netflix has partnered with a telecom company to offer prepaid tariff plans that come bundled with its subscription The biggest issue, however, seems to be the affordability of the bundled plans in the price-sensitive Indian market When Netflix forayed into India at the outset of 2016, its senior executives flagged slow internet speeds as one of the key hiccups to its penetration. However, all of that changed in a few months as Reliance Jio waltzed into the telecom arena.  The telecom war spurred the rise of data consumption and penetration of high-speed 4G internet services across the country as telcos offered data at dirt-cheap prices. Seven years later, it seems life has come full circle for the two companies as Jio and Netflix have announced a new offering that has the potential to rejig the streaming space. For the first time in India, Netflix has partnered with a telecom company to offer prepaid tariff plans bundled with a subscription for the US-based streaming major. While Netflix has largely played it safe so far, targeting standalone subscribers and postpaid users, its latest move could spur its India numbers. To summarise briefly, Jio has launched two prepaid plans priced at INR 1,099 (2GB/ day) and INR 1,499 (3GB/ day) with a validity of 84 days. The former comes embedded with the Netflix (mobile) plan, which sells for INR 149 a month, while the latter includes the ‘basic’ plan of Netflix, which is worth INR 199 per month. While the INR 1,099 plan will offer Netflix subscription worth INR 447 over a period of almost three months, the INR 1,499 plan will enable users to avail INR 597 worth of services. To put things in perspective, Jio’s current 2GB per day data plans with 84 days validity sell anywhere between INR 719 to INR 749. On the other hand, Jio’s 3GB data per day plan for 84 days cost INR 999.  While the details of the financial partnership are not known, Jio and Netflix are banking on the playbook of offering bundled offerings at small concessions to woo new customers.  However, the stakes are much higher for Netflix, which has lately undertaken multiple changes at its India operations with an eye on alternate revenue streams. The streaming company has partnered with a host of companies and is looking beyond price as a way to increase the number of users. With the latest partnership with Jio, Netflix is looking to hook the users of the telecom operator, offering them a taste of global shows as well as some vernacular content.  Can Netflix Capitalise On Jio’s User Base?  Netflix’s previous partnerships with telecom operators only targeted postpaid customers, who accounted for just 8% of the total telecom subscriber base in the country at the end of March 2023, thereby limiting its reach. The new partnership with Jio will open up a huge swathe of prepaid wireless subscribers for Netflix. Jio, which commanded a market share of 38.17% in the Indian telecom space as of May 2023, is expected to serve as an acquisition channel for Netflix, which so far has failed to zero in on a strategy in the country to shore up its user numbers.  The partnership with Jio will offer Netflix a direct entry in the subscription slab and ensure that the telecom operator’s users scroll through the bundled offerings whenever they buy a plan.  The bundled offerings will also make Netflix’s content more accessible to the masses and the streaming giant can skip forging partnerships with multiple stakeholders to push its services. This mirrors the playbook of ALTBalaji and Eros Now, both of which debuted their shows for free on Jio Cinema and Jio TV to gain traction and popularise their respective platforms. Reliance owns a stake in both these companies.  The collaboration with Jio will also help Netflix build a different revenue model where it banks on Jio’s network of dealers to get revenue through mobile recharges in a country where penetration of online payments and debit cards is still low.  Netflix also plans to leverage the data-guzzling Indian population, which spends a good chunk of its days viewing shows on streaming platforms. As per a report by Eros Now and KPMG, an average Indian viewer spent around 70 minutes per day on OTT platforms.  As per Reliance’s Q1 FY24 results, the per capita data usage of Jio users stood at nearly INR 25 GB per month, offering Netflix a window to capture these content-crazy subscribers.  The move will also enable Netflix to shed its image as a predominantly Gen Z and millennial offering and open the floodgates for other demographics to experience the streaming service.  The partnership appears to be a win-win situation for both players, especially for Netflix which can bank on Jio’s infrastructure, billing system and customer care to build a better customer experience while attracting more user eyeballs. On the other hand, it will also enable Jio to keep customer churn lower.  “Netflix has strategically introduced an INR 149 plan catered specifically for mobile users. The bundling strategy not only helps OTT players and aggregators in garnering substantial viewership figures but also synergistically aligns with the core offerings of both products, it’s like a win-win for both,” Avinash Mudaliar, cofounder and CEO of content discovery platform OTTplay, told Inc42.  Netflix’s India Problem India has been a challenging market for the US-based streaming giant for a long time. In 2021, its founder and co-CEO Reed Hastings said that the company was still trying to figure out the product-market fit for India even as it potentially spent about $400 Mn in the country since 2019. Since then, Netflix has slashed corners, cut subscription prices and unveiled a host of locally produced shows to attract the predominantly vernacular audience in the country. While it burned a lot