India’s ecommerce platforms clocked around Rs 24,000 crore in sales during the first two days of festive shopping, with mobile phones accounting for the largest share by value, according to Redseer Strategy Consultants. Around 6-6.5 crore shoppers placed 8-9 crore orders, with demand extending to electronics, appliances and fashion, particularly among consumers in Tier II cities and smaller towns. 

India’s digital infrastructure is also drawing attention, with Elon Musk vowing to make Starlink affordable in the country. The move could set up a contest with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio, as both companies await government clearance for their satellite internet services, days before Jio Platforms’ planned $106 billion IPO.

As AI adoption accelerates, questions around safety and accountability are coming to the fore. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has called for an “emergency brake” for advanced AI models, urging companies to assume these systems could be compromised and build safeguards from the outset. He wants human-controlled shutdown mechanisms, independent audits and tamper-proof records of AI actions to ensure transparency and accountability as AI agents become more autonomous.

The push for stronger safeguards is also bringing independent AI safety evaluators into focus. As OpenAI and Anthropic face growing pressure to subject their models to third-party audits, concerns persist over evaluators’ funding, access to sensitive systems and ability to operate independently, fuelling calls for greater government oversight.

Here’s your trivia for today: Microsoft entered the video game market with which console?

Zakir Khan, Varun Mayya, and Keshav Reddy are among the latest names on the speaker lineup for YourStory’s TechSparks 2026.

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