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India's Black Money Act is one of the most unforgiving tax laws on the books. A resident Indian who holds a foreign bank account, owns overseas property, or has shares in a foreign company — and fails to disclose it in their income tax return — faces a flat penalty of Rs 10 lakh per assessment year. Not a percentage of the asset value. Not a sliding scale. A flat Rs 10 lakh, applied every year the omission continues. With Budget 2026 having introduced the Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers Disclosure Scheme (FAST-DS 2026) as a limited amnesty window, and the July 31 ITR deadline approaching, here are the seven disclosure mistakes that cost taxpayers the most.&nbsp;Mistake 1: Thinking Small Assets Do Not Need To Be Reported&nbsp;Many taxpayers assume that foreign assets below a certain value are exempt from disclosure. This is wrong. Under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, the Rs 10 lakh flat penalty applies regardless of the size of the foreign asset — with one exception: from October 1, 2024, the penalty under Sections 42 and 43 does not apply if the aggregate value of all non-immovable foreign assets is below Rs 20 lakh. Foreign immovable property, however, carries no such safe harbour — it must be declared regardless of value. A foreign bank account with Rs 50,000 in it still needs to appear in Schedule FA of your ITR.&nbsp;Mistake 2: Not Reporting Foreign Assets Inherited Or Received As Gifts&nbsp;Taxpayers who inherit foreign assets — a bank account from a parent who lived abroad, shares in a family-held overseas company, or foreign property — often assume they do not need to declare assets they did not actively acquire. The obligation to disclose applies to all foreign assets held by a resident Indian, regardless of how they were acquired. Inherited or gifted foreign assets must appear in Schedule FA from the year the taxpayer becomes the legal owner.&nbsp;Mistake 3: Returning NRIs Forgetting Overseas Assets&nbsp;Non-resident Indians who return to India and become resident taxpayers must begin disclosing their overseas assets from the year they become residents. Many returning NRIs continue to hold foreign bank accounts, retirement savings plans (such as 401k accounts in the US), or overseas property — and do not realise that these must now be disclosed annually in Schedule FA. A returning NRI who held a foreign account for years without disclosing it after becoming a resident faces compounding penalties for each year of non-disclosure.&nbsp;Mistake 4: Confusing Schedule FA With Schedule FSI&nbsp;Schedule FA and Schedule FSI serve different purposes and both must be filled where applicable. Schedule FA covers assets held outside India — bank accounts, equity, immovable property, trusts, and any other financial interest abroad. Schedule FSI covers income earned from foreign sources — salary received from a foreign employer, dividends from overseas shares, interest from a foreign bank account, or rental income from overseas property. Taxpayers often fill one and skip the other. Both are mandatory for resident taxpayers with overseas exposure, and the information in both schedules must be consistent.&nbsp;Mistake 5: Assuming Tax Disclosure Cures FEMA Violations&nbsp;Budget 2026's FAST-DS 2026 scheme allows individuals to regularise undisclosed foreign income and assets by paying applicable tax and a penalty, obtaining immunity under income tax laws. What it does not do is cure separate violations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act. Common FEMA contraventions include retaining foreign bank balances beyond the permitted repatriation period, acquiring overseas property through impermissible funding sources, or failing to file required reports such as Form FC with the Reserve Bank of India. Paying the income tax penalty under FAST-DS does not automatically resolve a FEMA liability — taxpayers need separate legal advice on FEMA compliance.&nbsp;Mistake 6: Not Reporting Foreign Income That Was Not Remitted To India&nbsp;Some taxpayers believe that foreign income needs to be declared in India only when it is brought into the country. This is incorrect for resident and ordinarily resident taxpayers. Under Indian tax law, residents are taxable on their global income — including income that arose abroad and was never remitted to India. Foreign salary credited to an overseas account, interest earned in a foreign bank that stayed abroad, or dividends from foreign shares that were reinvested overseas — all of these must be declared in Schedule FSI and are potentially taxable in India.&nbsp;Mistake 7: Filing The Wrong Return Form And Skipping Foreign Schedules&nbsp;Schedule FA and Schedule FSI exist only in ITR-2 and ITR-3. Taxpayers with foreign assets who file ITR-1 — perhaps because their salaried income appears to fit that form — have no way to complete the mandatory foreign asset disclosure. Filing ITR-1 when you hold foreign assets is treated as non-disclosure. Resident taxpayers with any overseas bank account, foreign shares, or overseas property must file at minimum ITR-2, which contains both Schedule FA and Schedule FSI. Getting the form wrong is not a technical defence — the penalty for non-disclosure applies regardless of which form was filed.

India imposes a flat Rs 10 lakh penalty for undisclosed foreign assets. Here are seven costly Schedule FA and FSI mistakes Indian taxpayers make — and how to avoid them before July 31.

India's Black Money Act is one of the most unforgiving tax laws on the books. A resident Indian who holds a foreign bank account, owns overseas property, or has shares in a foreign company — and fails to disclose it in their income tax return — faces a flat penalty of Rs 10 lakh per assessment year. Not a percentage of the asset value. Not a sliding scale. A flat Rs 10 lakh, applied every year the omission continues. With Budget 2026 having introduced the Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers Disclosure Scheme (FAST-DS 2026) as a limited amnesty window, and the July 31 ITR deadline approaching, here are the seven disclosure mistakes that cost taxpayers the most. Mistake 1: Thinking Small Assets Do Not Need To Be Reported Many taxpayers assume that foreign assets below a certain value are exempt from disclosure. This is wrong. Under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, the Rs 10 lakh flat penalty applies regardless of the size of the foreign asset — with one exception: from October 1, 2024, the penalty under Sections 42 and 43 does not apply if the aggregate value of all non-immovable foreign assets is below Rs 20 lakh. Foreign immovable property, however, carries no such safe harbour — it must be declared regardless of value. A foreign bank account with Rs 50,000 in it still needs to appear in Schedule FA of your ITR. Mistake 2: Not Reporting Foreign Assets Inherited Or Received As Gifts Taxpayers who inherit foreign assets — a bank account from a parent who lived abroad, shares in a family-held overseas company, or foreign property — often assume they do not need to declare assets they did not actively acquire. The obligation to disclose applies to all foreign assets held by a resident Indian, regardless of how they were acquired. Inherited or gifted foreign assets must appear in Schedule FA from the year the taxpayer becomes the legal owner. Mistake 3: Returning NRIs Forgetting Overseas Assets Non-resident Indians who return to India and become resident taxpayers must begin disclosing their overseas assets from the year they become residents. Many returning NRIs continue to hold foreign bank accounts, retirement savings plans (such as 401k accounts in the US), or overseas property — and do not realise that these must now be disclosed annually in Schedule FA. A returning NRI who held a foreign account for years without disclosing it after becoming a resident faces compounding penalties for each year of non-disclosure. Mistake 4: Confusing Schedule FA With Schedule FSI Schedule FA and Schedule FSI serve different purposes and both must be filled where applicable. Schedule FA covers assets held outside India — bank accounts, equity, immovable property, trusts, and any other financial interest abroad. Schedule FSI covers income earned from foreign sources — salary received from a foreign employer, dividends from overseas shares, interest from a foreign bank account, or rental income from overseas property. Taxpayers often fill one and skip the other. Both are mandatory for resident taxpayers with overseas exposure, and the information in both schedules must be consistent. Mistake 5: Assuming Tax Disclosure Cures FEMA Violations Budget 2026's FAST-DS 2026 scheme allows individuals to regularise undisclosed foreign income and assets by paying applicable tax and a penalty, obtaining immunity under income tax laws. What it does not do is cure separate violations under the Foreign Exchange Management Act. Common FEMA contraventions include retaining foreign bank balances beyond the permitted repatriation period, acquiring overseas property through impermissible funding sources, or failing to file required reports such as Form FC with the Reserve Bank of India. Paying the income tax penalty under FAST-DS does not automatically resolve a FEMA liability — taxpayers need separate legal advice on FEMA compliance. Mistake 6: Not Reporting Foreign Income That Was Not Remitted To India Some taxpayers believe that foreign income needs to be declared in India only when it is brought into the country. This is incorrect for resident and ordinarily resident taxpayers. Under Indian tax law, residents are taxable on their global income — including income that arose abroad and was never remitted to India. Foreign salary credited to an overseas account, interest earned in a foreign bank that stayed abroad, or dividends from foreign shares that were reinvested overseas — all of these must be declared in Schedule FSI and are potentially taxable in India. Mistake 7: Filing The Wrong Return Form And Skipping Foreign Schedules Schedule FA and Schedule FSI exist only in ITR-2 and ITR-3. Taxpayers with foreign assets who file ITR-1 — perhaps because their salaried income appears to fit that form — have no way to complete the mandatory foreign asset disclosure. Filing ITR-1 when you hold foreign assets is treated as non-disclosure. Resident taxpayers with any overseas bank account, foreign shares, or overseas property must file at minimum ITR-2, which contains both Schedule FA and Schedule FSI. Getting the form wrong is not a technical defence — the penalty for non-disclosure applies regardless of which form was filed.

India's income tax law imposes a flat Rs 10 lakh penalty per year for failing to disclose foreign assets — regardless of how small the asset is or whether any tax was evaded. With the government's FAST-DS 2026 amnesty scheme running and the July 31 deadline approaching, here are seven costly mistakes Indian taxpayers make when declaring foreign income and overseas assets in their ITR.

'Rs 10 lakh penalty': 7 foreign income disclosure mistakes to avoid in your ITR 2026

If you ask most Indian taxpayers when the income tax deadline is, the answer is always July 31. That answer is incomplete in 2026. Budget 2026 restructured the ITR filing calendar, creating a tiered system of deadlines based on the type of return being filed rather than a single date for everyone. The result is a compliance calendar that runs from July 31 all the way to March 31, 2027 — and missing the right date for your category can mean penalties, loss of tax benefits, and in some cases, a return that cannot be revised even if you find an error later.&nbsp;Deadline 1 — July 31, 2026: Salaried Filers And Investors&nbsp;The July 31 deadline applies to individuals and HUFs filing ITR-1 or ITR-2 for FY 2025-26. This covers salaried employees, pensioners, and investors with capital gains, dividend income, or multiple house properties — anyone whose income does not include business or professional earnings. Missing July 31 means a late filing fee of Rs 5,000 for those with income above Rs 5 lakh, or Rs 1,000 for those below. More significantly, taxpayers who miss this date permanently lose the right to carry forward capital losses or house property losses to offset against future income. That loss of carry-forward benefit cannot be recovered by filing late.&nbsp;Deadline 2 — August 31, 2026: Small Business And Freelancers&nbsp;This is the most significant new date introduced by Budget 2026. Taxpayers filing ITR-3 or ITR-4 with business or professional income that does not require a statutory audit now have until August 31, 2026. This group includes freelancers, consultants, doctors, lawyers, architects, small traders, and professionals under the presumptive taxation scheme. Previously, these taxpayers shared the July 31 deadline with salaried filers, creating a filing rush for people whose income records take longer to compile. The extra month is designed to reduce errors and last-minute compliance pressure for India's growing self-employed population.&nbsp;Deadline 3 — October 31, 2026: Audit Cases&nbsp;Businesses and professionals whose accounts are required to be audited under the Income Tax Act — typically those with turnover above the specified thresholds — have until October 31, 2026 to file. This deadline covers ITR-3 and ITR-4 filers in audit-mandatory categories, as well as companies filing ITR-6 and partnership firms filing ITR-5 that require statutory audit. The audit report itself — filed in Form 3CA or 3CB along with Form 3CD — must also be submitted before the October 31 deadline, meaning the entire audit process needs to be completed well before the month-end.&nbsp;Deadline 4 — November 30, 2026: Transfer Pricing Cases&nbsp;The November 30 deadline applies to businesses involved in international transactions or specified domestic transactions that require a transfer pricing report under Section 92E of the Income Tax Act. These are typically larger companies, multinationals, and businesses with cross-border related-party transactions. The transfer pricing accountant's report in Form 3CEB must be filed by November 30, and the ITR itself must also be submitted by this date. This is the last of the four filing deadlines for the assessment year.&nbsp;Deadline 5 — December 31, 2026: Belated Returns&nbsp;Taxpayers who missed their applicable deadline — whether July 31, August 31, or October 31 — can still file a belated return until December 31, 2026. However, filing a belated return carries a penalty of Rs 5,000 for taxpayers with income above Rs 5 lakh, and Rs 1,000 for those below. Interest continues to accrue on unpaid tax at 1 percent per month under Section 234A from the original deadline. Belated filers also cannot carry forward most types of losses. December 31 is an absolute cut-off — no original return can be filed after this date for FY 2025-26.&nbsp;Deadline 6 — March 31, 2027: Revised Returns&nbsp;The most taxpayer-friendly change in the 2026 calendar is this: the window to file a revised return — correcting errors or omissions in an already-filed return — has been extended from December 31 to March 31, 2027. Previously, taxpayers had to spot and correct mistakes in their return by December 31, the same deadline as belated returns. Now, anyone who filed on time but later discovers an error — a missed deduction, an incorrect figure, an unreported income source — has until the last day of the assessment year to correct it. This applies only to taxpayers who filed their original return on or before their applicable deadline.&nbsp;The Practical Takeaway&nbsp;The new calendar creates a genuine hierarchy of urgency. Salaried filers face the tightest window and should treat July 31 as non-negotiable. Business filers without audit requirements have August 31 — but using the extra month as a reason to delay until the last week is inadvisable. Audit cases should be commissioning their auditors now, not in September. And every taxpayer, regardless of category, should calendar March 31, 2027 as the safety net for correcting filed returns — because it is now the last real chance to get the numbers right for FY 2025-26.

India's 2026 ITR calendar runs from July 31 to March 2027. Six key dates cover salaried, business, audit, transfer pricing, belated, and revised return filers. Full tracker here.

If you ask most Indian taxpayers when the income tax deadline is, the answer is always July 31. That answer is incomplete in 2026. Budget 2026 restructured the ITR filing calendar, creating a tiered system of deadlines based on the type of return being filed rather than a single date for everyone. The result is a compliance calendar that runs from July 31 all the way to March 31, 2027 — and missing the right date for your category can mean penalties, loss of tax benefits, and in some cases, a return that cannot be revised even if you find an error later. Deadline 1 — July 31, 2026: Salaried Filers And Investors The July 31 deadline applies to individuals and HUFs filing ITR-1 or ITR-2 for FY 2025-26. This covers salaried employees, pensioners, and investors with capital gains, dividend income, or multiple house properties — anyone whose income does not include business or professional earnings. Missing July 31 means a late filing fee of Rs 5,000 for those with income above Rs 5 lakh, or Rs 1,000 for those below. More significantly, taxpayers who miss this date permanently lose the right to carry forward capital losses or house property losses to offset against future income. That loss of carry-forward benefit cannot be recovered by filing late. Deadline 2 — August 31, 2026: Small Business And Freelancers This is the most significant new date introduced by Budget 2026. Taxpayers filing ITR-3 or ITR-4 with business or professional income that does not require a statutory audit now have until August 31, 2026. This group includes freelancers, consultants, doctors, lawyers, architects, small traders, and professionals under the presumptive taxation scheme. Previously, these taxpayers shared the July 31 deadline with salaried filers, creating a filing rush for people whose income records take longer to compile. The extra month is designed to reduce errors and last-minute compliance pressure for India's growing self-employed population. Deadline 3 — October 31, 2026: Audit Cases Businesses and professionals whose accounts are required to be audited under the Income Tax Act — typically those with turnover above the specified thresholds — have until October 31, 2026 to file. This deadline covers ITR-3 and ITR-4 filers in audit-mandatory categories, as well as companies filing ITR-6 and partnership firms filing ITR-5 that require statutory audit. The audit report itself — filed in Form 3CA or 3CB along with Form 3CD — must also be submitted before the October 31 deadline, meaning the entire audit process needs to be completed well before the month-end. Deadline 4 — November 30, 2026: Transfer Pricing Cases The November 30 deadline applies to businesses involved in international transactions or specified domestic transactions that require a transfer pricing report under Section 92E of the Income Tax Act. These are typically larger companies, multinationals, and businesses with cross-border related-party transactions. The transfer pricing accountant's report in Form 3CEB must be filed by November 30, and the ITR itself must also be submitted by this date. This is the last of the four filing deadlines for the assessment year. Deadline 5 — December 31, 2026: Belated Returns Taxpayers who missed their applicable deadline — whether July 31, August 31, or October 31 — can still file a belated return until December 31, 2026. However, filing a belated return carries a penalty of Rs 5,000 for taxpayers with income above Rs 5 lakh, and Rs 1,000 for those below. Interest continues to accrue on unpaid tax at 1 percent per month under Section 234A from the original deadline. Belated filers also cannot carry forward most types of losses. December 31 is an absolute cut-off — no original return can be filed after this date for FY 2025-26. Deadline 6 — March 31, 2027: Revised Returns The most taxpayer-friendly change in the 2026 calendar is this: the window to file a revised return — correcting errors or omissions in an already-filed return — has been extended from December 31 to March 31, 2027. Previously, taxpayers had to spot and correct mistakes in their return by December 31, the same deadline as belated returns. Now, anyone who filed on time but later discovers an error — a missed deduction, an incorrect figure, an unreported income source — has until the last day of the assessment year to correct it. This applies only to taxpayers who filed their original return on or before their applicable deadline. The Practical Takeaway The new calendar creates a genuine hierarchy of urgency. Salaried filers face the tightest window and should treat July 31 as non-negotiable. Business filers without audit requirements have August 31 — but using the extra month as a reason to delay until the last week is inadvisable. Audit cases should be commissioning their auditors now, not in September. And every taxpayer, regardless of category, should calendar March 31, 2027 as the safety net for correcting filed returns — because it is now the last real chance to get the numbers right for FY 2025-26.

July 31 is the deadline everyone talks about — but India's income tax calendar for 2026 has five more critical dates that stretch all the way to March 2027. From August 31 for small business owners to November 30 for transfer pricing cases, and December 31 for belated returns, here is the complete compliance tracker every taxpayer needs.

6 Income Tax deadlines every Indian taxpayer must track In 2026

Every year, millions of Indian taxpayers file the wrong income tax return form — not out of dishonesty, but out of genuine confusion about which form their income profile requires. Filing the wrong form can mean a defective return notice, a demand for refiling, or in some cases, penalties for incorrect disclosure. For AY 2026-27, the Income Tax Department has also expanded the eligibility criteria for some forms, meaning taxpayers who previously had to file ITR-2 may now qualify for the simpler ITR-1. Here is a complete guide to all seven ITR forms.&nbsp;ITR-1 (Sahaj): The Simplest Form, Now With Wider Eligibility&nbsp;ITR-1, called Sahaj, is designed for resident individual taxpayers with straightforward income. For AY 2026-27, it applies to taxpayers with total income up to Rs 50 lakh from salary or pension, up to two house properties, interest and dividend income, and long-term capital gains under Section 112A of up to Rs 1.25 lakh. Agricultural income up to Rs 5,000 is also permitted. The key change for this year: the Income Tax Department has expanded ITR-1 eligibility to include taxpayers who own two house properties — previously, ownership of more than one property automatically pushed you to ITR-2. ITR-1 cannot be used by directors of companies, those holding unlisted equity shares, NRIs, or taxpayers with income from business or profession.&nbsp;ITR-2: For Capital Gains, Multiple Properties, And Foreign Income&nbsp;ITR-2 applies to individuals and Hindu Undivided Families who do not have income from business or profession. It is the correct form if you have capital gains from shares, mutual funds, or property sales; income from more than two house properties; foreign assets or foreign source income; or income that does not fit within ITR-1's limits. NRIs and non-ordinarily resident Indians also use ITR-2 for their Indian-source income. With up to 26 internal schedules, ITR-2 looks complex — but filers only need to complete the schedules that apply to their specific situation. The deadline for ITR-2 is July 31, 2026.&nbsp;ITR-3: For Business And Profession Income&nbsp;ITR-3 is filed by individuals and HUFs who earn income through a business or profession — whether it is a sole proprietorship, a trading operation, a consultancy, a medical practice, or any other self-run income-generating activity. Unlike ITR-4, ITR-3 does not limit you to presumptive taxation — it accommodates actual books of accounts, balance sheets, and profit and loss statements. If your business income exceeds the presumptive taxation threshold, or if you have opted out of the presumptive scheme, ITR-3 is your form. Deadline: August 31, 2026 for non-audit cases; October 31 for audit cases.&nbsp;ITR-4 (Sugam): For Presumptive Taxation&nbsp;ITR-4, also called Sugam, is designed for individuals, HUFs, and firms other than LLPs who have opted for the presumptive taxation scheme under Sections 44AD, 44ADA, or 44AE of the Income Tax Act. Under presumptive taxation, eligible taxpayers declare income at a flat percentage of turnover or gross receipts — 8 percent for business income under 44AD, and 50 percent for professional income under 44ADA — without needing to maintain detailed books of accounts. The expanded eligibility for AY 2026-27 allows more taxpayers to qualify for ITR-4. Total income must not exceed Rs 50 lakh. Deadline: August 31, 2026.&nbsp;ITR-5: For Firms, LLPs, And Associations&nbsp;ITR-5 is not for individuals at all. It is filed by partnership firms, Limited Liability Partnerships, Associations of Persons, Bodies of Individuals, artificial juridical persons, estates of deceased persons, estates of insolvents, business trusts, and investment funds. Cooperative societies not claiming exemption under Section 11 also use ITR-5. Entities required to file ITR-7 — those claiming exemption under charitable or religious trust provisions — cannot use ITR-5.&nbsp;ITR-6: For Companies&nbsp;ITR-6 is exclusively for companies — both private and public — registered under the Companies Act. The single exception: companies that claim exemption under Section 11 of the Income Tax Act, covering income from property held for charitable or religious purposes, must file ITR-7 instead. All other companies, regardless of whether they are profit-making or loss-making, file ITR-6.&nbsp;ITR-7: For Charitable Trusts, Political Parties, And Research Institutions&nbsp;ITR-7 applies to any person — including companies — required to file returns under Sections 139(4A), 139(4B), 139(4C), or 139(4D) of the Income Tax Act. In practice this means charitable and religious trusts, political parties, research institutions, universities, and entities claiming exemption under Sections 11 and 12. A charitable trust with taxable income above the basic exemption limit that does not need to file under mandatory sections may use ITR-5 — but entities mandatorily required to file under 139(4A) through 139(4F) must use ITR-7.&nbsp;The Single Most Important Rule&nbsp;If you are unsure which form applies to you, the safest starting point is this: any business or profession income puts you between ITR-3 and ITR-4. No business income but capital gains, foreign assets, or more than two properties means ITR-2. Income entirely from salary, pension, interest, and modest LTCG within the Rs 1.25 lakh limit — total income under Rs 50 lakh — means ITR-1 is sufficient. The Income Tax Department's e-filing portal at incometax.gov.in has a form selection tool that confirms the right form based on your income sources.

ITR-1 now covers two house properties. ITR-4 eligibility is wider. Here is a complete guide to all 7 ITR forms — who each is for and who is excluded — for AY 2026-27.

Every year, millions of Indian taxpayers file the wrong income tax return form — not out of dishonesty, but out of genuine confusion about which form their income profile requires. Filing the wrong form can mean a defective return notice, a demand for refiling, or in some cases, penalties for incorrect disclosure. For AY 2026-27, the Income Tax Department has also expanded the eligibility criteria for some forms, meaning taxpayers who previously had to file ITR-2 may now qualify for the simpler ITR-1. Here is a complete guide to all seven ITR forms. ITR-1 (Sahaj): The Simplest Form, Now With Wider Eligibility ITR-1, called Sahaj, is designed for resident individual taxpayers with straightforward income. For AY 2026-27, it applies to taxpayers with total income up to Rs 50 lakh from salary or pension, up to two house properties, interest and dividend income, and long-term capital gains under Section 112A of up to Rs 1.25 lakh. Agricultural income up to Rs 5,000 is also permitted. The key change for this year: the Income Tax Department has expanded ITR-1 eligibility to include taxpayers who own two house properties — previously, ownership of more than one property automatically pushed you to ITR-2. ITR-1 cannot be used by directors of companies, those holding unlisted equity shares, NRIs, or taxpayers with income from business or profession. ITR-2: For Capital Gains, Multiple Properties, And Foreign Income ITR-2 applies to individuals and Hindu Undivided Families who do not have income from business or profession. It is the correct form if you have capital gains from shares, mutual funds, or property sales; income from more than two house properties; foreign assets or foreign source income; or income that does not fit within ITR-1's limits. NRIs and non-ordinarily resident Indians also use ITR-2 for their Indian-source income. With up to 26 internal schedules, ITR-2 looks complex — but filers only need to complete the schedules that apply to their specific situation. The deadline for ITR-2 is July 31, 2026. ITR-3: For Business And Profession Income ITR-3 is filed by individuals and HUFs who earn income through a business or profession — whether it is a sole proprietorship, a trading operation, a consultancy, a medical practice, or any other self-run income-generating activity. Unlike ITR-4, ITR-3 does not limit you to presumptive taxation — it accommodates actual books of accounts, balance sheets, and profit and loss statements. If your business income exceeds the presumptive taxation threshold, or if you have opted out of the presumptive scheme, ITR-3 is your form. Deadline: August 31, 2026 for non-audit cases; October 31 for audit cases. ITR-4 (Sugam): For Presumptive Taxation ITR-4, also called Sugam, is designed for individuals, HUFs, and firms other than LLPs who have opted for the presumptive taxation scheme under Sections 44AD, 44ADA, or 44AE of the Income Tax Act. Under presumptive taxation, eligible taxpayers declare income at a flat percentage of turnover or gross receipts — 8 percent for business income under 44AD, and 50 percent for professional income under 44ADA — without needing to maintain detailed books of accounts. The expanded eligibility for AY 2026-27 allows more taxpayers to qualify for ITR-4. Total income must not exceed Rs 50 lakh. Deadline: August 31, 2026. ITR-5: For Firms, LLPs, And Associations ITR-5 is not for individuals at all. It is filed by partnership firms, Limited Liability Partnerships, Associations of Persons, Bodies of Individuals, artificial juridical persons, estates of deceased persons, estates of insolvents, business trusts, and investment funds. Cooperative societies not claiming exemption under Section 11 also use ITR-5. Entities required to file ITR-7 — those claiming exemption under charitable or religious trust provisions — cannot use ITR-5. ITR-6: For Companies ITR-6 is exclusively for companies — both private and public — registered under the Companies Act. The single exception: companies that claim exemption under Section 11 of the Income Tax Act, covering income from property held for charitable or religious purposes, must file ITR-7 instead. All other companies, regardless of whether they are profit-making or loss-making, file ITR-6. ITR-7: For Charitable Trusts, Political Parties, And Research Institutions ITR-7 applies to any person — including companies — required to file returns under Sections 139(4A), 139(4B), 139(4C), or 139(4D) of the Income Tax Act. In practice this means charitable and religious trusts, political parties, research institutions, universities, and entities claiming exemption under Sections 11 and 12. A charitable trust with taxable income above the basic exemption limit that does not need to file under mandatory sections may use ITR-5 — but entities mandatorily required to file under 139(4A) through 139(4F) must use ITR-7. The Single Most Important Rule If you are unsure which form applies to you, the safest starting point is this: any business or profession income puts you between ITR-3 and ITR-4. No business income but capital gains, foreign assets, or more than two properties means ITR-2. Income entirely from salary, pension, interest, and modest LTCG within the Rs 1.25 lakh limit — total income under Rs 50 lakh — means ITR-1 is sufficient. The Income Tax Department's e-filing portal at incometax.gov.in has a form selection tool that confirms the right form based on your income sources.

Filing the wrong ITR form is one of the most common — and costly — mistakes Indian taxpayers make. For AY 2026-27, the rules have changed: ITR-1 now allows two house properties, and the eligibility lines between ITR-2, ITR-3, and ITR-4 have sharpened. Here is a plain-language guide to all seven forms — who each one is for, and who is specifically excluded.

ITR-1 Or ITR-3? Which Income Tax Return form you should actually be filing for AY 2026-27

In India, the first day of a new financial quarter rarely passes without regulatory changes, and July 1, 2026 is no exception. This year's edition is unusually packed — passport fees have been revised upward, EPFO is upgrading to a new platform that allows UPI and ATM withdrawals of provident fund money, Aadhaar email updates are free for the next six months, and the Reserve Bank of India is rolling out a new framework to protect consumers from being mis-sold financial products. On top of all this, the July 31 ITR filing deadline is now less than a month away. Here is what every Indian household needs to know.&nbsp;Passport Fees Have Gone Up&nbsp;The Ministry of External Affairs has revised the fee structure for passport services, effective July 1, 2026. The new rates apply to both normal and tatkal applications made within India and at Indian missions abroad. Applicants who had been delaying their passport renewal or fresh application will now pay more than they would have before July 1. The government has not announced an exemption category for the revision, meaning the increased charges apply across the board. Anyone planning international travel in the coming months should factor in the new fees when budgeting for documentation.&nbsp;EPFO 3.0: Provident Fund Via UPI And ATM&nbsp;The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation is expected to launch EPFO 3.0 in early July 2026, and it marks the most significant upgrade to the PF withdrawal system in years. Under the new platform, private sector employees will be able to withdraw provident fund money directly through UPI and ATM networks — without the multi-day processing wait that currently accompanies withdrawal requests on the existing portal. The change is designed to make PF access as immediate as a bank withdrawal for employees who need funds in an emergency, closing the gap between the theory of social security savings and the reality of being able to access them when needed.&nbsp;Free Aadhaar Email Update Until December 2026&nbsp;The Unique Identification Authority of India has opened a six-month window — from July 1 to December 31, 2026 — during which Aadhaar holders can update their registered email address free of charge through the Aadhaar mobile application. Ordinarily, demographic updates to Aadhaar records carry a fee. The free window is specifically for email address updates and is available through the app, not offline centres. Given that a valid email linked to Aadhaar is increasingly required for government service applications, tax filings, and subsidy transfers, this is a meaningful window for anyone whose linked email is outdated or no longer accessible.&nbsp;RBI's Anti-Mis-Selling Framework&nbsp;The Reserve Bank of India is rolling out a new framework targeting the mis-selling of financial products by banks. Under the new rules, customers who suffer financial losses because a bank misrepresented or inappropriately sold them a financial product — insurance bundled with a loan, a high-risk investment marketed as low-risk, or a product unsuited to a customer's profile — may be eligible for a refund or compensation. The framework places the burden of demonstrating suitability on the bank rather than the customer. This is a structural shift in how financial grievances are handled, and it applies across retail banking, deposit products, and investment products distributed through bank branches.&nbsp;Credit Card Lounge Access Rules Change&nbsp;Several major banks including SBI and HDFC have revised their complimentary airport lounge access rules for credit card holders, effective July 2026. The changes vary by card variant, but the general trend is tighter eligibility — either requiring minimum monthly spends to unlock lounge visits or reducing the number of complimentary visits per quarter. Cardholders who rely on lounge access as part of their card's value proposition should check their bank's updated benefits schedule directly, as the specifics vary significantly by card tier.&nbsp;July 31 ITR Deadline: Under 30 Days&nbsp;While not a change that took effect on July 1, the proximity of the July 31 income tax return deadline is the most time-sensitive financial obligation for most Indian households this month. Taxpayers filing ITR-1 or ITR-2 for FY 2025-26 have until July 31 to submit. Missing the deadline means a late fee of Rs 5,000 for taxpayers with income above Rs 5 lakh, and the permanent loss of the ability to carry forward capital or house property losses. For business filers under the presumptive scheme (ITR-4), the new deadline is August 31 — but for salaried and investor categories, the July 31 date is firm.

Passport fees are up, EPFO allows UPI withdrawals, Aadhaar email update is free, and RBI launches anti-mis-selling rules. Here are seven financial changes from July 1, 2026.

In India, the first day of a new financial quarter rarely passes without regulatory changes, and July 1, 2026 is no exception. This year's edition is unusually packed — passport fees have been revised upward, EPFO is upgrading to a new platform that allows UPI and ATM withdrawals of provident fund money, Aadhaar email updates are free for the next six months, and the Reserve Bank of India is rolling out a new framework to protect consumers from being mis-sold financial products. On top of all this, the July 31 ITR filing deadline is now less than a month away. Here is what every Indian household needs to know. Passport Fees Have Gone Up The Ministry of External Affairs has revised the fee structure for passport services, effective July 1, 2026. The new rates apply to both normal and tatkal applications made within India and at Indian missions abroad. Applicants who had been delaying their passport renewal or fresh application will now pay more than they would have before July 1. The government has not announced an exemption category for the revision, meaning the increased charges apply across the board. Anyone planning international travel in the coming months should factor in the new fees when budgeting for documentation. EPFO 3.0: Provident Fund Via UPI And ATM The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation is expected to launch EPFO 3.0 in early July 2026, and it marks the most significant upgrade to the PF withdrawal system in years. Under the new platform, private sector employees will be able to withdraw provident fund money directly through UPI and ATM networks — without the multi-day processing wait that currently accompanies withdrawal requests on the existing portal. The change is designed to make PF access as immediate as a bank withdrawal for employees who need funds in an emergency, closing the gap between the theory of social security savings and the reality of being able to access them when needed. Free Aadhaar Email Update Until December 2026 The Unique Identification Authority of India has opened a six-month window — from July 1 to December 31, 2026 — during which Aadhaar holders can update their registered email address free of charge through the Aadhaar mobile application. Ordinarily, demographic updates to Aadhaar records carry a fee. The free window is specifically for email address updates and is available through the app, not offline centres. Given that a valid email linked to Aadhaar is increasingly required for government service applications, tax filings, and subsidy transfers, this is a meaningful window for anyone whose linked email is outdated or no longer accessible. RBI's Anti-Mis-Selling Framework The Reserve Bank of India is rolling out a new framework targeting the mis-selling of financial products by banks. Under the new rules, customers who suffer financial losses because a bank misrepresented or inappropriately sold them a financial product — insurance bundled with a loan, a high-risk investment marketed as low-risk, or a product unsuited to a customer's profile — may be eligible for a refund or compensation. The framework places the burden of demonstrating suitability on the bank rather than the customer. This is a structural shift in how financial grievances are handled, and it applies across retail banking, deposit products, and investment products distributed through bank branches. Credit Card Lounge Access Rules Change Several major banks including SBI and HDFC have revised their complimentary airport lounge access rules for credit card holders, effective July 2026. The changes vary by card variant, but the general trend is tighter eligibility — either requiring minimum monthly spends to unlock lounge visits or reducing the number of complimentary visits per quarter. Cardholders who rely on lounge access as part of their card's value proposition should check their bank's updated benefits schedule directly, as the specifics vary significantly by card tier. July 31 ITR Deadline: Under 30 Days While not a change that took effect on July 1, the proximity of the July 31 income tax return deadline is the most time-sensitive financial obligation for most Indian households this month. Taxpayers filing ITR-1 or ITR-2 for FY 2025-26 have until July 31 to submit. Missing the deadline means a late fee of Rs 5,000 for taxpayers with income above Rs 5 lakh, and the permanent loss of the ability to carry forward capital or house property losses. For business filers under the presumptive scheme (ITR-4), the new deadline is August 31 — but for salaried and investor categories, the July 31 date is firm.

From higher passport fees and EPFO going digital to free Aadhaar email updates and new RBI consumer protection rules, July 1, 2026 brought a cluster of financial changes that affect nearly every household in India. Here is what changed, what it costs you, and what you need to act on before July 31.

'Passport, PF, Aadhaar update': 7 financial changes that hit India from July 1, 2026

Every year, Indian taxpayers treat July 31 as if it is the only income tax date that matters in the month. It is not. The July tax compliance calendar runs from the very first week of the month, and missing any of the earlier dates can create cascading problems — penalty notices, interest charges, and in some cases, the permanent loss of the right to carry forward losses to offset against future income. Here are the five income tax deadlines in July 2026 that every taxpayer, employer, and business owner needs to have on their calendar.&nbsp;July 7: TDS And TCS Deposits&nbsp;The first compliance deadline of the month falls on July 7, and it applies to anyone who deducts or collects tax at source. Tax Deducted at Source for the month of June 2026 must be deposited with the government by this date. Additionally, businesses that have been permitted by their Assessing Officer to make quarterly TDS deposits — covering the April to June 2026 quarter — must also deposit by July 7. This date also covers the upload of declarations received from buyers in Form 127 during June 2026, and declarations received from recipients in Form 121 for the quarter ending June 2026.&nbsp;July 15: Reporting By Financial Institutions And Exchanges&nbsp;July 15 is primarily a compliance date for regulated entities rather than individual taxpayers. Financial institutions, stock exchanges, authorised dealers, and certain other reporting entities must submit their required transaction reports by this date. This also includes the issuance of Form 132 certificates for specified taxes deducted in May 2026. While individual filers are not directly affected, this deadline feeds into the pre-filled data available in their ITR forms — making it relevant to anyone who expects their investment or banking income to appear automatically in their tax return.&nbsp;July 30: TDS Challan-Cum-Statement&nbsp;Any individual or entity that deducted tax on payments made during June 2026 must file the corresponding challan-cum-statement by July 30. This is a separate filing from the standard TDS return, and it applies in specific categories of transactions. Missing this date triggers its own penalties under the Income Tax Act and can create compliance mismatches that surface later during scrutiny.&nbsp;July 31: ITR Filing For Salaried And ITR-2 Filers&nbsp;The primary deadline most taxpayers know — July 31, 2026 is the last date to file income tax returns for FY 2025-26 for individuals and HUFs filing ITR-1 or ITR-2. This covers salaried employees, pensioners, and investors with capital gains or multiple house properties. Missing this deadline means a late fee of Rs 5,000 for taxpayers with income above Rs 5 lakh, or Rs 1,000 for those below the Rs 5 lakh threshold. Interest at 1 percent per month also accrues on any outstanding tax under Section 234A. Critically, taxpayers who miss July 31 also lose the ability to carry forward losses — such as capital losses or losses from house property — to set off against income in future years. The right to carry forward losses is available only if the return is filed on time.&nbsp;July 31: TDS And TCS Quarterly Returns, Plus Special Forms&nbsp;The second July 31 obligation is less well known but equally significant. Companies must file their TDS and TCS returns for the April to June 2026 quarter by this date, covering Forms 138, 140, 142, and 144. A range of special forms are also due on July 31: Form 10E for claiming salary arrear relief under Section 89, Form 10BA for deduction of rent paid, Form 10H for foreign income, and Forms 10CCE and 10CCD for royalty and technical know-how deductions. Pension funds must also submit their required reporting through Form 175 by this date. Each of these has its own penalty structure under the Income Tax Act for late or non-filing.&nbsp;Do Not Wait Till July 31&nbsp;With five separate compliance milestones spread across July, the safest approach is to treat July 7 as the month's opening gun — not July 31 as the finish line. For employers and businesses, missing the TDS deposit on July 7 is often more immediately damaging than missing the ITR deadline at the end of the month, since it attracts penalties, disallowance of expense deductions, and prosecution risk under Section 276B of the Income Tax Act. For individual filers, begin gathering Form 16, capital gains statements, and bank interest certificates now — July 31 leaves almost no time to recover if anything is missing.

July 2026 has five income tax compliance deadlines — July 7, 15, 30, and two on July 31. Missing any can trigger penalties or loss of carry-forward loss benefit. Full guide here.

Every year, Indian taxpayers treat July 31 as if it is the only income tax date that matters in the month. It is not. The July tax compliance calendar runs from the very first week of the month, and missing any of the earlier dates can create cascading problems — penalty notices, interest charges, and in some cases, the permanent loss of the right to carry forward losses to offset against future income. Here are the five income tax deadlines in July 2026 that every taxpayer, employer, and business owner needs to have on their calendar. July 7: TDS And TCS Deposits The first compliance deadline of the month falls on July 7, and it applies to anyone who deducts or collects tax at source. Tax Deducted at Source for the month of June 2026 must be deposited with the government by this date. Additionally, businesses that have been permitted by their Assessing Officer to make quarterly TDS deposits — covering the April to June 2026 quarter — must also deposit by July 7. This date also covers the upload of declarations received from buyers in Form 127 during June 2026, and declarations received from recipients in Form 121 for the quarter ending June 2026. July 15: Reporting By Financial Institutions And Exchanges July 15 is primarily a compliance date for regulated entities rather than individual taxpayers. Financial institutions, stock exchanges, authorised dealers, and certain other reporting entities must submit their required transaction reports by this date. This also includes the issuance of Form 132 certificates for specified taxes deducted in May 2026. While individual filers are not directly affected, this deadline feeds into the pre-filled data available in their ITR forms — making it relevant to anyone who expects their investment or banking income to appear automatically in their tax return. July 30: TDS Challan-Cum-Statement Any individual or entity that deducted tax on payments made during June 2026 must file the corresponding challan-cum-statement by July 30. This is a separate filing from the standard TDS return, and it applies in specific categories of transactions. Missing this date triggers its own penalties under the Income Tax Act and can create compliance mismatches that surface later during scrutiny. July 31: ITR Filing For Salaried And ITR-2 Filers The primary deadline most taxpayers know — July 31, 2026 is the last date to file income tax returns for FY 2025-26 for individuals and HUFs filing ITR-1 or ITR-2. This covers salaried employees, pensioners, and investors with capital gains or multiple house properties. Missing this deadline means a late fee of Rs 5,000 for taxpayers with income above Rs 5 lakh, or Rs 1,000 for those below the Rs 5 lakh threshold. Interest at 1 percent per month also accrues on any outstanding tax under Section 234A. Critically, taxpayers who miss July 31 also lose the ability to carry forward losses — such as capital losses or losses from house property — to set off against income in future years. The right to carry forward losses is available only if the return is filed on time. July 31: TDS And TCS Quarterly Returns, Plus Special Forms The second July 31 obligation is less well known but equally significant. Companies must file their TDS and TCS returns for the April to June 2026 quarter by this date, covering Forms 138, 140, 142, and 144. A range of special forms are also due on July 31: Form 10E for claiming salary arrear relief under Section 89, Form 10BA for deduction of rent paid, Form 10H for foreign income, and Forms 10CCE and 10CCD for royalty and technical know-how deductions. Pension funds must also submit their required reporting through Form 175 by this date. Each of these has its own penalty structure under the Income Tax Act for late or non-filing. Do Not Wait Till July 31 With five separate compliance milestones spread across July, the safest approach is to treat July 7 as the month's opening gun — not July 31 as the finish line. For employers and businesses, missing the TDS deposit on July 7 is often more immediately damaging than missing the ITR deadline at the end of the month, since it attracts penalties, disallowance of expense deductions, and prosecution risk under Section 276B of the Income Tax Act. For individual filers, begin gathering Form 16, capital gains statements, and bank interest certificates now — July 31 leaves almost no time to recover if anything is missing.

Most taxpayers only know about the July 31 ITR filing deadline — but there are four other income tax compliance dates in July 2026 that affect businesses, employers, financial institutions, and salaried individuals alike. Missing any one of them can trigger penalties, interest charges, or loss of the right to carry forward tax losses.

5 income tax deadlines in July 2026 you cannot miss

If your income comes from salary but you also sold shares, own more than one property, hold foreign assets, or received income from virtual digital assets in FY 2025-26, ITR-1 is not the right form for you. ITR-2 is — and while it can look intimidating at first glance, with up to 26 schedules inside the form, the rule is simple: you only fill what applies to your situation. Here is a section-by-section breakdown of the 15 most important schedules for AY 2026-27, what is new this year, and what you can safely ignore.&nbsp;Who Should File ITR-2&nbsp;ITR-2 applies to individuals and Hindu Undivided Families who do not have income from business or profession. If you have salary income alongside capital gains, income from more than one house property, dividend income, foreign income or assets, or income from virtual digital assets — ITR-2 is your form. Non-residents and non-ordinarily resident Indians also use ITR-2 for Indian-source income. The filing deadline for ITR-2 is July 31, 2026.&nbsp;What Is New For AY 2026-27&nbsp;Two auto-selections have been introduced this year: the filing status field is pre-filled as ‘Filed u/s 139(1)’ — the standard on-time filing section — and the tax regime selector defaults to the new regime. If you intend to file under the old regime, you will need to manually override this. The other important change: the split capital gains reporting requirement introduced after Budget 2024 — where gains before and after July 23, 2024 had to be disclosed separately — has been removed. Capital gains reporting is now consolidated, simplifying the schedule considerably.&nbsp;The 15 Key Schedules&nbsp;Part A General: Start by verifying the pre-filled profile data covering contact details, residential status, bank accounts, and filing status. Bank Details: All bank accounts must be listed; at least one must be pre-validated for tax refunds to be credited. Schedule House Property: Report income or loss from self-occupied, let-out, or deemed let-out properties individually. Each property gets its own block with gross rent, municipal tax deduction, 30 percent standard deduction, and home loan interest under Section 24. Land and building transfers must be reported per property — consolidated reporting is not permitted here. Schedule Capital Gains: Segregates capital gains by asset type. Post-Budget 2024 rates: short-term capital gains under Section 111A are taxed at 20 percent; long-term capital gains under Section 112A are taxed at 12.5 percent. For multiple assets of the same type, consolidated calculation is allowed — except for land and building, which require individual computations. Schedule VDA: A dedicated schedule for virtual digital asset income including cryptocurrency and NFTs. This auto-populates into Schedule CG.&nbsp;Loss Schedules You Cannot Ignore&nbsp;Schedule CYLA shows income after adjusting current-year losses across heads. Schedule BFLA applies brought-forward losses from prior assessment years to reduce current income. Schedule CFL identifies losses that are eligible to be carried forward to future years. If you have capital loss carry-forwards from earlier years, these three schedules work together and must be filled in sequence.&nbsp;Deductions, Clubbing, And Foreign Disclosures&nbsp;Schedule VI-A covers all deductions — Section 80C investments, Section 80D health insurance premiums, and others. This schedule is primarily relevant for taxpayers staying in the old regime. Schedule SPI applies when income from a spouse or minor child must be clubbed with the taxpayer's own income. Schedule FSI is mandatory for residents reporting income from foreign sources — whether from employment abroad, interest in a foreign bank, or dividends from overseas holdings. Schedule TR summarises the tax relief claimed for foreign taxes already paid, country by country. Schedule FA requires residents to disclose all foreign assets — bank accounts, equity, immovable property, trusts — held at any point during the year. Non-residents and non-ordinarily resident Indians are exempt from Schedule FA.&nbsp;High-Income Filers And Special Cases&nbsp;Schedule AL is mandatory for all taxpayers whose total income exceeds Rs 1 crore. It requires a full disclosure of movable and immovable assets and the liabilities attached to them. Schedule 5A applies only to taxpayers governed by the Portuguese Civil Code community property rules — relevant for residents of Goa and certain Union Territories. If neither applies to you, both can be skipped. With roughly half of ITR-2's 26 schedules applicable only to specific situations, the key to filing correctly is not completing every section — it is knowing which ones your financial profile actually requires.

ITR-2 contains 26 schedules but you only fill what applies. Here is a section-by-section guide for AY 2026-27 covering capital gains, house property, foreign assets, VDA, and what changed this year.

If your income comes from salary but you also sold shares, own more than one property, hold foreign assets, or received income from virtual digital assets in FY 2025-26, ITR-1 is not the right form for you. ITR-2 is — and while it can look intimidating at first glance, with up to 26 schedules inside the form, the rule is simple: you only fill what applies to your situation. Here is a section-by-section breakdown of the 15 most important schedules for AY 2026-27, what is new this year, and what you can safely ignore. Who Should File ITR-2 ITR-2 applies to individuals and Hindu Undivided Families who do not have income from business or profession. If you have salary income alongside capital gains, income from more than one house property, dividend income, foreign income or assets, or income from virtual digital assets — ITR-2 is your form. Non-residents and non-ordinarily resident Indians also use ITR-2 for Indian-source income. The filing deadline for ITR-2 is July 31, 2026. What Is New For AY 2026-27 Two auto-selections have been introduced this year: the filing status field is pre-filled as ‘Filed u/s 139(1)’ — the standard on-time filing section — and the tax regime selector defaults to the new regime. If you intend to file under the old regime, you will need to manually override this. The other important change: the split capital gains reporting requirement introduced after Budget 2024 — where gains before and after July 23, 2024 had to be disclosed separately — has been removed. Capital gains reporting is now consolidated, simplifying the schedule considerably. The 15 Key Schedules Part A General: Start by verifying the pre-filled profile data covering contact details, residential status, bank accounts, and filing status. Bank Details: All bank accounts must be listed; at least one must be pre-validated for tax refunds to be credited. Schedule House Property: Report income or loss from self-occupied, let-out, or deemed let-out properties individually. Each property gets its own block with gross rent, municipal tax deduction, 30 percent standard deduction, and home loan interest under Section 24. Land and building transfers must be reported per property — consolidated reporting is not permitted here. Schedule Capital Gains: Segregates capital gains by asset type. Post-Budget 2024 rates: short-term capital gains under Section 111A are taxed at 20 percent; long-term capital gains under Section 112A are taxed at 12.5 percent. For multiple assets of the same type, consolidated calculation is allowed — except for land and building, which require individual computations. Schedule VDA: A dedicated schedule for virtual digital asset income including cryptocurrency and NFTs. This auto-populates into Schedule CG. Loss Schedules You Cannot Ignore Schedule CYLA shows income after adjusting current-year losses across heads. Schedule BFLA applies brought-forward losses from prior assessment years to reduce current income. Schedule CFL identifies losses that are eligible to be carried forward to future years. If you have capital loss carry-forwards from earlier years, these three schedules work together and must be filled in sequence. Deductions, Clubbing, And Foreign Disclosures Schedule VI-A covers all deductions — Section 80C investments, Section 80D health insurance premiums, and others. This schedule is primarily relevant for taxpayers staying in the old regime. Schedule SPI applies when income from a spouse or minor child must be clubbed with the taxpayer's own income. Schedule FSI is mandatory for residents reporting income from foreign sources — whether from employment abroad, interest in a foreign bank, or dividends from overseas holdings. Schedule TR summarises the tax relief claimed for foreign taxes already paid, country by country. Schedule FA requires residents to disclose all foreign assets — bank accounts, equity, immovable property, trusts — held at any point during the year. Non-residents and non-ordinarily resident Indians are exempt from Schedule FA. High-Income Filers And Special Cases Schedule AL is mandatory for all taxpayers whose total income exceeds Rs 1 crore. It requires a full disclosure of movable and immovable assets and the liabilities attached to them. Schedule 5A applies only to taxpayers governed by the Portuguese Civil Code community property rules — relevant for residents of Goa and certain Union Territories. If neither applies to you, both can be skipped. With roughly half of ITR-2's 26 schedules applicable only to specific situations, the key to filing correctly is not completing every section — it is knowing which ones your financial profile actually requires.

ITR-2 is the correct return for salaried individuals with capital gains, multiple house properties, or foreign income — but it contains up to 26 schedules that can overwhelm even experienced filers. Here is a quick guide to the 15 most important sections, what changed for AY 2026-27, and which schedules you can skip entirely.

Filing ITR-2 for AY 2026-27? Here are 15 key sections explained

For years, July 31 was the one date every Indian taxpayer circled on their calendar. Salaried employees, freelancers, small business owners, consultants — everyone raced against the same deadline. That era is over. Budget 2026 has restructured the ITR filing calendar entirely, tying deadlines to the type of return being filed rather than forcing every category of taxpayer to comply on the same date. If you assume your deadline is still July 31, you may be right — or you may have an extra month, or even four months. The difference depends on which ITR form applies to you.&nbsp;What Changed And Why&nbsp;The old calendar was a blunt instrument. A salaried employee with straightforward income and a small business owner with complex accounts, inventory, and GST filings both had to comply by the same July 31 date — even though the compliance burden was vastly different. Budget 2026 acknowledged this imbalance and introduced a tiered deadline system based on ITR form type, not taxpayer category. The goal was to reduce last-minute filing pressure, reduce errors in returns filed in a rush, and give businesses that genuinely need more time — particularly those subject to statutory audits — room to file correctly rather than quickly.&nbsp;The New Calendar At A Glance&nbsp;Salaried employees, pensioners, and investors filing ITR-1 or ITR-2 — covering income from salary, interest, capital gains, dividends, and up to two house properties — retain the July 31, 2026 deadline. Nothing has changed for this group. Taxpayers filing ITR-3 or ITR-4 with business or professional income that does not require a statutory audit have received a meaningful relief: their deadline is now August 31, 2026 — a full extra month. For business income cases that do require a statutory audit under the Income Tax Act, the deadline is October 31, 2026. Companies and partnerships involved in international transactions or specified domestic transactions requiring transfer pricing reports have until November 30, 2026.&nbsp;What This Means For The Self-Employed&nbsp;The biggest beneficiaries of this change are freelancers, consultants, doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants, architects, and small business owners who previously scrambled to meet the July 31 deadline while also managing quarterly advance tax payments and monthly GST filings. For the non-audit cases in this group — the majority of small businesses and professionals operating under the presumptive taxation scheme — the August 31 date provides a meaningful buffer. It reduces the risk of errors that come from filing in a rush, and it aligns their compliance window more closely with the actual time they need to compile income records from the full financial year.&nbsp;Miss It And It Costs You&nbsp;For anyone who misses their applicable deadline, a belated return can still be filed until December 31, 2026, but it comes with a penalty of up to Rs 5,000 under Section 234F — reduced to Rs 1,000 for taxpayers with total income below Rs 5 lakh. Interest on any outstanding tax liability also continues to accrue at 1 percent per month under Section 234A. In a significant additional change, the window for filing a revised return — allowing taxpayers to correct mistakes after the initial filing — has been extended from December 31 to March 31, 2027, the last day of the assessment year. This gives taxpayers who file on time but discover errors later a longer window to fix them without penalty.&nbsp;Check Your Form Before Assuming Your Date&nbsp;The critical action for every taxpayer right now is to confirm which ITR form applies to their situation before assuming a deadline. A salaried person with freelance income on the side, or an investor who also runs a small consultancy, may find their applicable form — and therefore their deadline — different from what they expect. The Income Tax Department's e-filing portal (incometax.gov.in) allows taxpayers to check their applicable form based on income sources. With July 31 approaching rapidly, salaried filers who haven't begun should treat the deadline as urgent. For business filers with a later date, the extra time is a relief — but not an invitation to delay.

India changed ITR filing deadlines in 2026. July 31 is not universal anymore. Salaried filers, business owners, and audit cases now have different due dates. Here's the full calendar.

For years, July 31 was the one date every Indian taxpayer circled on their calendar. Salaried employees, freelancers, small business owners, consultants — everyone raced against the same deadline. That era is over. Budget 2026 has restructured the ITR filing calendar entirely, tying deadlines to the type of return being filed rather than forcing every category of taxpayer to comply on the same date. If you assume your deadline is still July 31, you may be right — or you may have an extra month, or even four months. The difference depends on which ITR form applies to you. What Changed And Why The old calendar was a blunt instrument. A salaried employee with straightforward income and a small business owner with complex accounts, inventory, and GST filings both had to comply by the same July 31 date — even though the compliance burden was vastly different. Budget 2026 acknowledged this imbalance and introduced a tiered deadline system based on ITR form type, not taxpayer category. The goal was to reduce last-minute filing pressure, reduce errors in returns filed in a rush, and give businesses that genuinely need more time — particularly those subject to statutory audits — room to file correctly rather than quickly. The New Calendar At A Glance Salaried employees, pensioners, and investors filing ITR-1 or ITR-2 — covering income from salary, interest, capital gains, dividends, and up to two house properties — retain the July 31, 2026 deadline. Nothing has changed for this group. Taxpayers filing ITR-3 or ITR-4 with business or professional income that does not require a statutory audit have received a meaningful relief: their deadline is now August 31, 2026 — a full extra month. For business income cases that do require a statutory audit under the Income Tax Act, the deadline is October 31, 2026. Companies and partnerships involved in international transactions or specified domestic transactions requiring transfer pricing reports have until November 30, 2026. What This Means For The Self-Employed The biggest beneficiaries of this change are freelancers, consultants, doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants, architects, and small business owners who previously scrambled to meet the July 31 deadline while also managing quarterly advance tax payments and monthly GST filings. For the non-audit cases in this group — the majority of small businesses and professionals operating under the presumptive taxation scheme — the August 31 date provides a meaningful buffer. It reduces the risk of errors that come from filing in a rush, and it aligns their compliance window more closely with the actual time they need to compile income records from the full financial year. Miss It And It Costs You For anyone who misses their applicable deadline, a belated return can still be filed until December 31, 2026, but it comes with a penalty of up to Rs 5,000 under Section 234F — reduced to Rs 1,000 for taxpayers with total income below Rs 5 lakh. Interest on any outstanding tax liability also continues to accrue at 1 percent per month under Section 234A. In a significant additional change, the window for filing a revised return — allowing taxpayers to correct mistakes after the initial filing — has been extended from December 31 to March 31, 2027, the last day of the assessment year. This gives taxpayers who file on time but discover errors later a longer window to fix them without penalty. Check Your Form Before Assuming Your Date The critical action for every taxpayer right now is to confirm which ITR form applies to their situation before assuming a deadline. A salaried person with freelance income on the side, or an investor who also runs a small consultancy, may find their applicable form — and therefore their deadline — different from what they expect. The Income Tax Department's e-filing portal (incometax.gov.in) allows taxpayers to check their applicable form based on income sources. With July 31 approaching rapidly, salaried filers who haven't begun should treat the deadline as urgent. For business filers with a later date, the extra time is a relief — but not an invitation to delay.

India has quietly overhauled its income tax filing calendar for 2026, and the old one-size-fits-all July 31 deadline no longer applies to everyone. Depending on whether you are salaried, run a business, or require an audit, your ITR due date could be July 31, August 31, October 31, or even November 30. Here is the complete new calendar — and why missing it could cost you.

ITR 2026: Your deadline is not same as before! Here's the new calendar

Gold has emerged as the top hedge for central banks amid ongoing geopolitical risks. According to a recent survey of public investors by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), a net 30 per cent of central banks intend to increase their gold holdings over the next one to two years. The report noted that 82 per cent of central banks held physical gold reserves in 2026, compared with 71 per cent in the last year. The survey found that around 61 per cent of central banks expect the gold prices to trade between USD 5,000 and USD 6,000 per ounce by June 2027, while 28 per cent stated that recent prices are discouraging enough to make further purchases. "The motivation behind gold purchases is increasingly strategic rather than purely financial. Protection against geopolitical risk is cited by 51 per cent of respondents, up 11 per cent from 2024," according to the report. The survey found that about 61 per cent of central banks expect gold prices to trade between USD 5,000 and USD 6,000 per ounce by June 2027. However, 28 per cent indicated that current gold prices are already high enough to discourage additional purchases.&nbsp;Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/what-is-article-5-of-us-iran-deal-and-why-is-it-being-blamed-for-hormuz-unrest-wion-decodes-1782825574565">What is Article 5 of US-Iran deal, and why is it being blamed for Hormuz unrest? WION Decodes</a><h3>Dollar alternatives</h3>The OMFIF study also pointed out that the euro and renminbi are the top alternatives to the dollar among central banks. It also highlighted that emerging market currencies are getting attention. "This year, 29 per cent of respondents plan to increase euro holdings in the long term, up from 22 per cent last year," the survey report stated. However, the report underscored that both currencies have some handicaps. "Neither the euro nor the renminbi fully solves reserve managers' problem: the former lacks a single, deep safe asset market, while the latter remains constrained by market structure and geopolitical concerns," the report said. In addition, adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) among central banks allow to improve efficiency and decision-making. "89% of developed economy central banks report some form of artificial intelligence implementation, compared with 44% of emerging market peers," the report mentioned. The report found that volatility is being seen as something that needs better management rather than just a wait-and-watch approach. "The old assumption that public investors can wait for the environment to normalise looks increasingly unrealistic," the report said.&nbsp;

The survey found that about 61 per cent of central banks expect gold prices to trade between USD 5,000 and USD 6,000 per ounce by June 2027. However, 28 per cent indicated that current gold prices are already high enough to discourage additional purchases.

Gold has emerged as the top hedge for central banks amid ongoing geopolitical risks. According to a recent survey of public investors by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), a net 30 per cent of central banks intend to increase their gold holdings over the next one to two years. The report noted that 82 per cent of central banks held physical gold reserves in 2026, compared with 71 per cent in the last year. The survey found that around 61 per cent of central banks expect the gold prices to trade between USD 5,000 and USD 6,000 per ounce by June 2027, while 28 per cent stated that recent prices are discouraging enough to make further purchases. "The motivation behind gold purchases is increasingly strategic rather than purely financial. Protection against geopolitical risk is cited by 51 per cent of respondents, up 11 per cent from 2024," according to the report. The survey found that about 61 per cent of central banks expect gold prices to trade between USD 5,000 and USD 6,000 per ounce by June 2027. However, 28 per cent indicated that current gold prices are already high enough to discourage additional purchases. Also read: What is Article 5 of US-Iran deal, and why is it being blamed for Hormuz unrest? WION Decodes Dollar alternatives The OMFIF study also pointed out that the euro and renminbi are the top alternatives to the dollar among central banks. It also highlighted that emerging market currencies are getting attention. "This year, 29 per cent of respondents plan to increase euro holdings in the long term, up from 22 per cent last year," the survey report stated. However, the report underscored that both currencies have some handicaps. "Neither the euro nor the renminbi fully solves reserve managers' problem: the former lacks a single, deep safe asset market, while the latter remains constrained by market structure and geopolitical concerns," the report said. In addition, adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) among central banks allow to improve efficiency and decision-making. "89% of developed economy central banks report some form of artificial intelligence implementation, compared with 44% of emerging market peers," the report mentioned. The report found that volatility is being seen as something that needs better management rather than just a wait-and-watch approach. "The old assumption that public investors can wait for the environment to normalise looks increasingly unrealistic," the report said.

The survey found that about 61 per cent of central banks expect gold prices to trade between USD 5,000 and USD 6,000 per ounce by June 2027. However, 28 per cent indicated that current gold prices are already high enough to discourage additional purchases.

Gold overtakes dollar emerging top hedge for central banks amid geopolitical risks, says report

Ford has hired over 300 quality inspectors after realising that Artificial Intelligence is not the answer to all its questions. A Bloomberg report states that the US automaker has brought back human engineers after AI failed to match their skills and experience. "Artificial intelligence is a fantastic tool, but it's only as good as the information you use to train it," Charles Poon, vice president of vehicle hardware engineering, told reporters. The company, just like many others, hopped onto the AI bandwagon, deploying it across some of its operations, including quality checks. However, it has now realised that it fails miserably when pitted against its most experienced engineers.&nbsp;"Over prior years, we didn't pay as much attention as we should have to the experience of our most knowledgeable engineers who have been with us through many product cycles," Poon said. Companies all over the world are moving towards AI-first organisations, but many have admitted that human knowledge is irreplaceable. Ford boss Jim Farley said in an interview last year, "AI will leave a lot of white-collar people behind." Turns out, quality checks aren't one of them.Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/trending/company-ends-up-spending-rs-4-800-crore-on-claude-ai-in-a-month-because-of-a-tiny-oversight-1780048597729">Company accidentally blows away Rs 4,800 crore on Claude AI in a month because of a tiny oversight</a>&nbsp;In October, chief operating officer Kumar Galhotra said that Ford is rolling out 900 AI-powered cameras in its plants "to detect quality issues at the source and help us mitigate supply disruptions". But Poon has admitted that AI-led checks are not delivering the desired results.Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/trending/fact-check-did-jeff-bezos-say-human-use-of-water-is-slowing-down-ai-1781967987089">Fact check: Did Jeff Bezos say human use of water is slowing down AI? Here is what we found</a>&nbsp;"Mistakenly, we thought that by just introducing artificial intelligence and ingesting the design requirements that we had, that would produce a high-quality product," he said. Galhotra added that Ford is moving away from its quality control approach, where problems were identified after they reached the factory floor. The technical specialists now help identify quality issues before production begins.<h2>Technical experts will train AI systems at Ford</h2>Poon reportedly said that since the veteran engineers left the company before AI could learn from their years of experience, it is lacking their expertise. Human workers who have now been brought back are training the systems and other workers. Ford has realised that it is important to enhance automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence tools, and human knowledge is the only way to make it happen.&nbsp;The company said in a press statement that to top the index, it made a "significant talent refresh", including replacing senior leaders across engineering, supply chain and manufacturing, and hiring roughly 300 veteran engineers.&nbsp;

Ford has understood that Artificial Intelligence alone is not going to work, and has hired over 300 technical experts for quality checks. However, they will train the AI systems, passing on their decades of expertise to AI to improve its quality.

Ford has hired over 300 quality inspectors after realising that Artificial Intelligence is not the answer to all its questions. A Bloomberg report states that the US automaker has brought back human engineers after AI failed to match their skills and experience. "Artificial intelligence is a fantastic tool, but it's only as good as the information you use to train it," Charles Poon, vice president of vehicle hardware engineering, told reporters. The company, just like many others, hopped onto the AI bandwagon, deploying it across some of its operations, including quality checks. However, it has now realised that it fails miserably when pitted against its most experienced engineers. "Over prior years, we didn't pay as much attention as we should have to the experience of our most knowledgeable engineers who have been with us through many product cycles," Poon said. Companies all over the world are moving towards AI-first organisations, but many have admitted that human knowledge is irreplaceable. Ford boss Jim Farley said in an interview last year, "AI will leave a lot of white-collar people behind." Turns out, quality checks aren't one of them. Also Read: Company accidentally blows away Rs 4,800 crore on Claude AI in a month because of a tiny oversight In October, chief operating officer Kumar Galhotra said that Ford is rolling out 900 AI-powered cameras in its plants "to detect quality issues at the source and help us mitigate supply disruptions". But Poon has admitted that AI-led checks are not delivering the desired results. Also Read: Fact check: Did Jeff Bezos say human use of water is slowing down AI? Here is what we found "Mistakenly, we thought that by just introducing artificial intelligence and ingesting the design requirements that we had, that would produce a high-quality product," he said. Galhotra added that Ford is moving away from its quality control approach, where problems were identified after they reached the factory floor. The technical specialists now help identify quality issues before production begins. Technical experts will train AI systems at Ford Poon reportedly said that since the veteran engineers left the company before AI could learn from their years of experience, it is lacking their expertise. Human workers who have now been brought back are training the systems and other workers. Ford has realised that it is important to enhance automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence tools, and human knowledge is the only way to make it happen. The company said in a press statement that to top the index, it made a "significant talent refresh", including replacing senior leaders across engineering, supply chain and manufacturing, and hiring roughly 300 veteran engineers.

Ford has understood that Artificial Intelligence alone is not going to work, and has hired over 300 technical experts for quality checks. However, they will train the AI systems, passing on their decades of expertise to AI to improve its quality.

AI flops for Ford as it brings back over 300 human experts

British American Tobacco (BAT) is carrying out a major restructuring exercise that will cut nearly 9,000 jobs. As part of the plan, the cigarette-maker company will cut 5,500 jobs and outsource another 3,500 roles to third parties. The move forms part of the company's AI push to integrate artificial intelligence into its operations, boost productivity and accelerate technologically. "These changes affect many of our colleagues, and we are focused on supporting them through this transition with care and respect," CEO Tadeu Marroco said in a statement, adding that the move is focused on making the firm more agile, cost-disciplined and technology-enabled. The report added that the restructuring operations are expected to generate around USD 793 million in annual savings by 2028. The overhaul also indicates BAT's growing focus on vapes and nicotine products such as vapes and nicotine pouches, which it hopes will become central to its future business strategy.&nbsp;Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-is-facing-huge-fuel-crisis-here-s-why-1782728119711">Russia is facing huge fuel crisis. Here's why</a><h3>Tighter regulations and higher tobacco taxes</h3>The tobacco giant has been facing pressure from declining cigarette sales, which have weighed on profits as consumers increasingly shift toward smoke-free products. BAT is also contending with tighter regulations and higher tobacco taxes in key markets such as the United States, while many consumers are turning to lower-cost tobacco products that often face less regulatory scrutiny. In addition, an influx of inexpensive Chinese tobacco products has intensified competition for established industry players like BAT. On Monday, shares of BAT also fell 1.7 per cent. At the beginning of 2026, the firm closed its South African facility because it struggled to grow the illicit trade in the country. The company's facility in South Africa had been working at just 35 per cent capacity due to the loss of high volume after the illicit trade boomed. Last year, BAT declared a partnership with Accenture in order to become a faster, more agile and technologically-driven business. With this partnership, BAT focuses on achieving a transformation in its Global Business Solutions function and Supply Network Operations. "This collaboration will help simplify processes, improve speed to market, enhance compliance agility and create a foundation for future growth," BAT had said in a release.

The overhaul indicates BAT's growing focus on vapes and nicotine products such as vapes and nicotine pouches, which it hopes will become central to its future business strategy.

British American Tobacco (BAT) is carrying out a major restructuring exercise that will cut nearly 9,000 jobs. As part of the plan, the cigarette-maker company will cut 5,500 jobs and outsource another 3,500 roles to third parties. The move forms part of the company's AI push to integrate artificial intelligence into its operations, boost productivity and accelerate technologically. "These changes affect many of our colleagues, and we are focused on supporting them through this transition with care and respect," CEO Tadeu Marroco said in a statement, adding that the move is focused on making the firm more agile, cost-disciplined and technology-enabled. The report added that the restructuring operations are expected to generate around USD 793 million in annual savings by 2028. The overhaul also indicates BAT's growing focus on vapes and nicotine products such as vapes and nicotine pouches, which it hopes will become central to its future business strategy. Also read: Russia is facing huge fuel crisis. Here's why Tighter regulations and higher tobacco taxes The tobacco giant has been facing pressure from declining cigarette sales, which have weighed on profits as consumers increasingly shift toward smoke-free products. BAT is also contending with tighter regulations and higher tobacco taxes in key markets such as the United States, while many consumers are turning to lower-cost tobacco products that often face less regulatory scrutiny. In addition, an influx of inexpensive Chinese tobacco products has intensified competition for established industry players like BAT. On Monday, shares of BAT also fell 1.7 per cent. At the beginning of 2026, the firm closed its South African facility because it struggled to grow the illicit trade in the country. The company's facility in South Africa had been working at just 35 per cent capacity due to the loss of high volume after the illicit trade boomed. Last year, BAT declared a partnership with Accenture in order to become a faster, more agile and technologically-driven business. With this partnership, BAT focuses on achieving a transformation in its Global Business Solutions function and Supply Network Operations. "This collaboration will help simplify processes, improve speed to market, enhance compliance agility and create a foundation for future growth," BAT had said in a release.

The overhaul indicates BAT's growing focus on vapes and nicotine products such as vapes and nicotine pouches, which it hopes will become central to its future business strategy.

British American Tobacco to cut nearly 9,000 jobs: Here's why

Meta AI has 1.2 billion monthly active users. That number sounds impressive until you understand how it was achieved: not by building a product people chose to use, but by embedding an AI assistant directly into WhatsApp, Instagram DMs, and Facebook feeds — apps that billions of people were already using every day. Users did not download Meta AI. They did not sign up for it. It appeared, uninvited, inside their existing conversations and search bars. Compare that to ChatGPT, which has 900 million weekly active users who actively chose to visit a standalone product — and which holds 76.85% of the AI search market. For professional tasks like coding, research, legal analysis, and writing, ChatGPT remains far superior. Meta AI is widely described as useful for quick queries and social integration, but not much else.&nbsp;$83.5 Billion In Cumulative Losses And Counting&nbsp;Meta's Reality Labs division — which houses its AI, VR, AR, and metaverse operations — has accumulated approximately $83.5 billion in operating losses across 21 consecutive quarters. In 2025 alone, Reality Labs burned $19.2 billion. In Q1 2026, it lost another $4.03 billion while generating just $402 million in revenue — a ratio of roughly $10 lost for every $1 earned. Meta has now laid off more than 1,000 Reality Labs employees as it pivots resources from the metaverse to AI, but the losses continue to mount with no breakeven point in sight.&nbsp;$145 Billion In AI Spending — With No Cloud Business To Show For It&nbsp;Meta has raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to between $125 billion and $145 billion — an increase of over 60% year-on-year. This money is going into data centres, Nvidia GPUs, and AI infrastructure. Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are spending similar amounts — but each of them has a cloud computing business that immediately monetises that infrastructure by selling compute capacity to other companies. Meta has no cloud business. Its revenue is almost entirely advertising. Every dollar spent on AI infrastructure is a bet that it will eventually make ads more targeted and platforms more engaging. That may happen. But right now, Meta AI, business agents, WhatsApp paid messaging, and early commerce initiatives are not generating meaningful revenue. The AI spending is improving the existing ad business — not building a new one.&nbsp;The Moderation Crisis Nobody Is Pricing In&nbsp;While Meta pours billions into AI infrastructure, the AI it has already deployed is actively destroying trust with the people who use its platforms. Meta's own Oversight Board confirmed in June 2026 that the company's account bans lack due process and transparency. Thousands of creators, small business owners, and ordinary users have had their accounts suspended or permanently deleted by AI moderation systems that falsely flag normal content — including family photos — as violations. A Change.org petition against wrongful Meta account bans has gathered nearly 56,000 signatures. Meanwhile, AI-generated bot accounts with blue tick verification badges continue to operate freely on the same platforms. Meta has gutted its human moderation teams in favour of AI enforcement — and the AI is getting it catastrophically wrong at scale.&nbsp;Zuckerberg's Answer On AI Returns&nbsp;When Meta reported its Q1 2026 earnings and revealed the raised capex guidance, analysts pressed Mark Zuckerberg on what measurable return on investment the company's AI spending was actually delivering. His answer was notable: he described it as ‘a very technical question.’ For a company spending up to $145 billion in a single year on capital projects — more than the GDP of most countries — that answer is not reassuring. Meta's CFO said the 2025 AI investment cohort ‘paid off,’ but what that means in practice is that ad targeting improved. It does not mean Meta AI as a product generates revenue. It does not mean the $145 billion in infrastructure will produce a new business line. It means the existing advertising machine got slightly better.&nbsp;What The Market Is Choosing To Ignore&nbsp;Meta's stock has fallen approximately 27.5% from its all-time high of $796.25 in August 2025, trading at around $577 as of mid-June 2026. But even after that correction, the market is still valuing Meta at roughly $1.46 trillion — a price that assumes the AI spending will eventually pay off, that Meta AI will become a competitive product, and that the moderation crisis will resolve itself. The data suggests a different picture: a company that has burned nearly $90 billion on Reality Labs over seven years with no return, that is spending $145 billion on infrastructure it cannot monetise through a cloud business, whose flagship AI product was force-embedded into existing apps rather than adopted on its own merits, and whose AI moderation system is actively destroying the creator and small business ecosystem that drives its advertising revenue. The market may be right that Meta's ad business is strong enough to survive all of this. But calling Meta AI a success — when its users did not choose it, its moderation is failing, its losses are approaching $90 billion, and its CEO calls ROI ‘a very technical question’ — requires ignoring a substantial amount of evidence to the contrary.

Meta AI has 1.2B users it didn't earn, $83.5B in cumulative losses, $145B capex with no cloud business, and a moderation crisis destroying creator trust. Here's the data.

Meta AI has 1.2 billion monthly active users. That number sounds impressive until you understand how it was achieved: not by building a product people chose to use, but by embedding an AI assistant directly into WhatsApp, Instagram DMs, and Facebook feeds — apps that billions of people were already using every day. Users did not download Meta AI. They did not sign up for it. It appeared, uninvited, inside their existing conversations and search bars. Compare that to ChatGPT, which has 900 million weekly active users who actively chose to visit a standalone product — and which holds 76.85% of the AI search market. For professional tasks like coding, research, legal analysis, and writing, ChatGPT remains far superior. Meta AI is widely described as useful for quick queries and social integration, but not much else. $83.5 Billion In Cumulative Losses And Counting Meta's Reality Labs division — which houses its AI, VR, AR, and metaverse operations — has accumulated approximately $83.5 billion in operating losses across 21 consecutive quarters. In 2025 alone, Reality Labs burned $19.2 billion. In Q1 2026, it lost another $4.03 billion while generating just $402 million in revenue — a ratio of roughly $10 lost for every $1 earned. Meta has now laid off more than 1,000 Reality Labs employees as it pivots resources from the metaverse to AI, but the losses continue to mount with no breakeven point in sight. $145 Billion In AI Spending — With No Cloud Business To Show For It Meta has raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to between $125 billion and $145 billion — an increase of over 60% year-on-year. This money is going into data centres, Nvidia GPUs, and AI infrastructure. Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are spending similar amounts — but each of them has a cloud computing business that immediately monetises that infrastructure by selling compute capacity to other companies. Meta has no cloud business. Its revenue is almost entirely advertising. Every dollar spent on AI infrastructure is a bet that it will eventually make ads more targeted and platforms more engaging. That may happen. But right now, Meta AI, business agents, WhatsApp paid messaging, and early commerce initiatives are not generating meaningful revenue. The AI spending is improving the existing ad business — not building a new one. The Moderation Crisis Nobody Is Pricing In While Meta pours billions into AI infrastructure, the AI it has already deployed is actively destroying trust with the people who use its platforms. Meta's own Oversight Board confirmed in June 2026 that the company's account bans lack due process and transparency. Thousands of creators, small business owners, and ordinary users have had their accounts suspended or permanently deleted by AI moderation systems that falsely flag normal content — including family photos — as violations. A Change.org petition against wrongful Meta account bans has gathered nearly 56,000 signatures. Meanwhile, AI-generated bot accounts with blue tick verification badges continue to operate freely on the same platforms. Meta has gutted its human moderation teams in favour of AI enforcement — and the AI is getting it catastrophically wrong at scale. Zuckerberg's Answer On AI Returns When Meta reported its Q1 2026 earnings and revealed the raised capex guidance, analysts pressed Mark Zuckerberg on what measurable return on investment the company's AI spending was actually delivering. His answer was notable: he described it as ‘a very technical question.’ For a company spending up to $145 billion in a single year on capital projects — more than the GDP of most countries — that answer is not reassuring. Meta's CFO said the 2025 AI investment cohort ‘paid off,’ but what that means in practice is that ad targeting improved. It does not mean Meta AI as a product generates revenue. It does not mean the $145 billion in infrastructure will produce a new business line. It means the existing advertising machine got slightly better. What The Market Is Choosing To Ignore Meta's stock has fallen approximately 27.5% from its all-time high of $796.25 in August 2025, trading at around $577 as of mid-June 2026. But even after that correction, the market is still valuing Meta at roughly $1.46 trillion — a price that assumes the AI spending will eventually pay off, that Meta AI will become a competitive product, and that the moderation crisis will resolve itself. The data suggests a different picture: a company that has burned nearly $90 billion on Reality Labs over seven years with no return, that is spending $145 billion on infrastructure it cannot monetise through a cloud business, whose flagship AI product was force-embedded into existing apps rather than adopted on its own merits, and whose AI moderation system is actively destroying the creator and small business ecosystem that drives its advertising revenue. The market may be right that Meta's ad business is strong enough to survive all of this. But calling Meta AI a success — when its users did not choose it, its moderation is failing, its losses are approaching $90 billion, and its CEO calls ROI ‘a very technical question’ — requires ignoring a substantial amount of evidence to the contrary.

Meta AI has 1.2 billion monthly users it did not earn, force-embedded into WhatsApp and Instagram. Reality Labs has burned through $83.5 billion in cumulative losses. The company is spending $145 billion on AI infrastructure with no cloud business to monetise it. Its own Oversight Board says its AI moderation lacks due process. And when asked about AI returns, Mark Zuckerberg called it ‘a very technical question.’ Here is the data the market is choosing to ignore.

Meta AI is a lost cause but the market refuses to see it yet! Here's why

Meta Platforms has agreed to invest $900 million in Indian fintech startup CRED, acquiring an approximately 20 per cent minority stake and valuing the Bengaluru-based company at $4.5 billion. At the same time, CRED founder Kunal Shah has been appointed global head of WhatsApp, succeeding Will Cathcart, who led the platform for nearly seven years.The deal is the single largest strategic investment by a global technology major in India's consumer financial services sector. But the number that matters most is not $900 million. It is 0.65 per cent.<h2>What Meta actually bought</h2>CRED is not a platform built for everyone, and it was never meant to be.The company admits only Indians with CIBIL credit scores above 750, a threshold that excludes the vast majority of the population and leaves roughly 17 million members who collectively represent the country's most financially active consumer segment. These are people who pay their credit card bills on time, borrow responsibly, and spend at a scale that makes them disproportionately valuable to any financial platform trying to build depth rather than just volume.The platform processes more than 40 per cent of India's credit card bill payments. Over time, it has expanded into personal loans, insurance, e-commerce and investment products. In March 2026, the Reserve Bank of India granted CRED a Payment Aggregator licence, one of the most consequential regulatory authorisations in Indian fintech, giving it the infrastructure to process payments directly for merchants.Financially, CRED ended FY25 with operating revenue of Rs 2,735 crore, up 16 per cent year on year. Operating losses narrowed by 51 per cent to Rs 298 crore. On a net basis, after accounting for non-operating expenses, including employee stock options and depreciation, losses contracted by 11.5 per cent to Rs 1,457 crore. In May 2026 alone, CRED processed 157.19 crore UPI transactions worth Rs 61,002 crore.Ashish Bhatia, Founder and CEO of India Accelerator and Co-Founder of Finvolve, said the deal should not be read as a valuation story."People often say CRED is a credit card bill payment app. That's like saying Amazon is a bookstore," Bhatia said. "CRED became valuable because it became the platform for a particular kind of Indian: financially responsible, creditworthy and aspirational, allowing them to progressively do more things. Pay bills, yes. But also borrow, invest, shop and discover. The product kept deepening because the relationship kept deepening. That's what platforms do. That's what Meta bought."<h2>The gap Meta could not close</h2>The strategic urgency behind the deal is visible in that single number: 0.65 per cent.That is WhatsApp Pay's share of India's UPI market as of May 2026, according to data published by the National Payments Corporation of India and reported across multiple outlets. It trails PhonePe at 46.2 per cent, Google Pay at 32.7 per cent, Paytm at 7.9 per cent, and even smaller players such as Navi, super.money, BHIM, FamPay and CRED's own UPI product. For an app used by more than 500 million Indians every day, it is a number that tells its own story.India processed a record 23.2 billion UPI transactions in May 2026 alone, according to NPCI. WhatsApp was present for almost none of them in any meaningful commercial sense.The reason traces back to timing. PhonePe entered the UPI market in 2016. Google Pay followed in 2017. WhatsApp Pay did not receive full regulatory approval until 2020, by which time Indian consumers had already formed payment habits, merchants had already integrated rival platforms, and the market had already chosen its defaults. Meta has spent six years trying to close that gap. It has not.Meta has now committed more than $6.6 billion across India's digital economy: $5.7 billion for a 9.99 per cent stake in Reliance's Jio Platforms in April 2020, and $900 million for an approximately 20 per cent stake in CRED in June 2026. The Jio investment was designed to accelerate WhatsApp commerce through JioMart. That partnership remains active. WhatsApp Pay's market position, however, has not materially improved.<h2>One window, one deadline</h2>The window Meta is now targeting is not competitive. It is regulatory, and it has a closing date.India's National Payments Corporation of India requires PhonePe and Google Pay to cap their individual transaction volumes at 30 per cent of the total UPI market by 31 December 2026. Both currently exceed that threshold significantly, with PhonePe at 46.2 per cent and Google Pay at 32.7 per cent. The rule has been extended twice before, most recently on 31 December 2024, citing operational challenges. If it remains in force this time, both dominant platforms would be required to stop onboarding new users once they reach the cap, creating an opportunity that WhatsApp Pay, with Kunal Shah now leading the product globally, is better positioned than ever to seize.The shift is already beginning. The combined share of PhonePe and Google Pay fell to 79 per cent in May 2026, below 80 per cent for the first time since NPCI began publishing individual application statistics, according to Outlook Business, citing NPCI data. The top three providers collectively held 95.2 per cent of all transactions in January 2024. By May 2026, that had contracted to 87 per cent as smaller platforms steadily gained ground.NPCI also lifted the user onboarding cap on WhatsApp Pay entirely on 31 December 2024, opening UPI payments on the platform to its full Indian user base for the first time.<h2>What this means for the ecosystem</h2>The deal's implications extend well beyond WhatsApp and CRED.Bhatia said it is a signal that India's fintech market is entering a period of fundamental bifurcation and that the criteria for survival are shifting."The ecosystem is bifurcating sharply between companies that own a real relationship with a specific community and companies that are just running transactions," he said. "The ones who survive the next cycle will be asking the right question today: not 'How do I grow faster?' but 'Which community do I truly belong to, and what more can I do for them?'"The CRED valuation trajectory illustrates this shift in numbers. The company peaked at $6.4 billion in 2022, fell to $3.5 billion in a 2025 down round, and has recovered to $4.5 billion following Meta's investment. It is a full cycle that mirrors the broader shift in sentiment across India's fintech sector over the past three years. Community depth, rather than transaction volume, is what preserved its value through that correction.<h2>The next layer: intelligence, not more rails</h2>For founders watching this deal, Paramdeep Singh, Founder of Long Tail Ventures, said the real signal has nothing to do with building another payments product."India already processes over 18 billion UPI transactions every month. The next opportunity is no longer building another payments app, but building intelligence on top of existing financial rails," Singh said.Singh pointed to underwriting, fraud detection, collections, compliance, treasury management and AI-powered financial tools for consumers and businesses as the most significant opportunities emerging from India's digital financial infrastructure."These are large, recurring problems where AI can materially improve cost, speed and accuracy," he said. "India's digital public infrastructure provides a unique foundation to build globally relevant companies in these areas. For founders, the challenge is no longer access to financial rails, but finding proprietary data and distribution that others cannot easily replicate."The scale of that infrastructure is not in dispute. NPCI data show India's UPI network processed 228.3 billion transactions during 2025, up 29.3 per cent by volume year on year. The rails are built, and the question now is who builds the intelligence layer on top of them.<h2>The data question regulators will watch</h2>The deal does raise a question that India's regulatory architecture will need to answer over time.CRED holds one of the richest repositories of consumer financial behaviour data in India, including credit card repayment histories, spending patterns, borrowing behaviour and UPI transaction data, all tied to the country's most creditworthy consumer segment. Meta, as a minority investor without a board seat, has said it will have no access to that member data, a structural choice designed to address the data sovereignty concerns that have historically made Indian regulators cautious about foreign technology companies expanding into financial services.India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 is the governing framework for how platforms handle consumer data of this nature. Its rules covering consent managers and Significant Data Fiduciaries are still being operationalised. Whether the current architecture of the Meta-CRED deal satisfies the RBI and NPCI as WhatsApp's financial services ambitions continue to grow will be a question that regulators, and the market, will be watching closely.

With WhatsApp Pay holding less than 1% of India's UPI market despite 500 million users, the deal of  $900 million investment by Meta in CRED is less about money and more about a payments problem Meta has spent six years failing to solve.

Meta Platforms has agreed to invest $900 million in Indian fintech startup CRED, acquiring an approximately 20 per cent minority stake and valuing the Bengaluru-based company at $4.5 billion. At the same time, CRED founder Kunal Shah has been appointed global head of WhatsApp, succeeding Will Cathcart, who led the platform for nearly seven years. The deal is the single largest strategic investment by a global technology major in India's consumer financial services sector. But the number that matters most is not $900 million. It is 0.65 per cent. What Meta actually bought CRED is not a platform built for everyone, and it was never meant to be. The company admits only Indians with CIBIL credit scores above 750, a threshold that excludes the vast majority of the population and leaves roughly 17 million members who collectively represent the country's most financially active consumer segment. These are people who pay their credit card bills on time, borrow responsibly, and spend at a scale that makes them disproportionately valuable to any financial platform trying to build depth rather than just volume. The platform processes more than 40 per cent of India's credit card bill payments. Over time, it has expanded into personal loans, insurance, e-commerce and investment products. In March 2026, the Reserve Bank of India granted CRED a Payment Aggregator licence, one of the most consequential regulatory authorisations in Indian fintech, giving it the infrastructure to process payments directly for merchants. Financially, CRED ended FY25 with operating revenue of Rs 2,735 crore, up 16 per cent year on year. Operating losses narrowed by 51 per cent to Rs 298 crore. On a net basis, after accounting for non-operating expenses, including employee stock options and depreciation, losses contracted by 11.5 per cent to Rs 1,457 crore. In May 2026 alone, CRED processed 157.19 crore UPI transactions worth Rs 61,002 crore. Ashish Bhatia, Founder and CEO of India Accelerator and Co-Founder of Finvolve, said the deal should not be read as a valuation story. "People often say CRED is a credit card bill payment app. That's like saying Amazon is a bookstore," Bhatia said. "CRED became valuable because it became the platform for a particular kind of Indian: financially responsible, creditworthy and aspirational, allowing them to progressively do more things. Pay bills, yes. But also borrow, invest, shop and discover. The product kept deepening because the relationship kept deepening. That's what platforms do. That's what Meta bought." The gap Meta could not close The strategic urgency behind the deal is visible in that single number: 0.65 per cent. That is WhatsApp Pay's share of India's UPI market as of May 2026, according to data published by the National Payments Corporation of India and reported across multiple outlets. It trails PhonePe at 46.2 per cent, Google Pay at 32.7 per cent, Paytm at 7.9 per cent, and even smaller players such as Navi, super.money, BHIM, FamPay and CRED's own UPI product. For an app used by more than 500 million Indians every day, it is a number that tells its own story. India processed a record 23.2 billion UPI transactions in May 2026 alone, according to NPCI. WhatsApp was present for almost none of them in any meaningful commercial sense. The reason traces back to timing. PhonePe entered the UPI market in 2016. Google Pay followed in 2017. WhatsApp Pay did not receive full regulatory approval until 2020, by which time Indian consumers had already formed payment habits, merchants had already integrated rival platforms, and the market had already chosen its defaults. Meta has spent six years trying to close that gap. It has not. Meta has now committed more than $6.6 billion across India's digital economy: $5.7 billion for a 9.99 per cent stake in Reliance's Jio Platforms in April 2020, and $900 million for an approximately 20 per cent stake in CRED in June 2026. The Jio investment was designed to accelerate WhatsApp commerce through JioMart. That partnership remains active. WhatsApp Pay's market position, however, has not materially improved. One window, one deadline The window Meta is now targeting is not competitive. It is regulatory, and it has a closing date. India's National Payments Corporation of India requires PhonePe and Google Pay to cap their individual transaction volumes at 30 per cent of the total UPI market by 31 December 2026. Both currently exceed that threshold significantly, with PhonePe at 46.2 per cent and Google Pay at 32.7 per cent. The rule has been extended twice before, most recently on 31 December 2024, citing operational challenges. If it remains in force this time, both dominant platforms would be required to stop onboarding new users once they reach the cap, creating an opportunity that WhatsApp Pay, with Kunal Shah now leading the product globally, is better positioned than ever to seize. The shift is already beginning. The combined share of PhonePe and Google Pay fell to 79 per cent in May 2026, below 80 per cent for the first time since NPCI began publishing individual application statistics, according to Outlook Business, citing NPCI data. The top three providers collectively held 95.2 per cent of all transactions in January 2024. By May 2026, that had contracted to 87 per cent as smaller platforms steadily gained ground. NPCI also lifted the user onboarding cap on WhatsApp Pay entirely on 31 December 2024, opening UPI payments on the platform to its full Indian user base for the first time. What this means for the ecosystem The deal's implications extend well beyond WhatsApp and CRED. Bhatia said it is a signal that India's fintech market is entering a period of fundamental bifurcation and that the criteria for survival are shifting. "The ecosystem is bifurcating sharply between companies that own a real relationship with a specific community and companies that are just running transactions," he said. "The ones who survive the next cycle will be asking the right question today: not 'How do I grow faster?' but 'Which community do I truly belong to, and what more can I do for them?'" The CRED valuation trajectory illustrates this shift in numbers. The company peaked at $6.4 billion in 2022, fell to $3.5 billion in a 2025 down round, and has recovered to $4.5 billion following Meta's investment. It is a full cycle that mirrors the broader shift in sentiment across India's fintech sector over the past three years. Community depth, rather than transaction volume, is what preserved its value through that correction. The next layer: intelligence, not more rails For founders watching this deal, Paramdeep Singh, Founder of Long Tail Ventures, said the real signal has nothing to do with building another payments product. "India already processes over 18 billion UPI transactions every month. The next opportunity is no longer building another payments app, but building intelligence on top of existing financial rails," Singh said. Singh pointed to underwriting, fraud detection, collections, compliance, treasury management and AI-powered financial tools for consumers and businesses as the most significant opportunities emerging from India's digital financial infrastructure. "These are large, recurring problems where AI can materially improve cost, speed and accuracy," he said. "India's digital public infrastructure provides a unique foundation to build globally relevant companies in these areas. For founders, the challenge is no longer access to financial rails, but finding proprietary data and distribution that others cannot easily replicate." The scale of that infrastructure is not in dispute. NPCI data show India's UPI network processed 228.3 billion transactions during 2025, up 29.3 per cent by volume year on year. The rails are built, and the question now is who builds the intelligence layer on top of them. The data question regulators will watch The deal does raise a question that India's regulatory architecture will need to answer over time. CRED holds one of the richest repositories of consumer financial behaviour data in India, including credit card repayment histories, spending patterns, borrowing behaviour and UPI transaction data, all tied to the country's most creditworthy consumer segment. Meta, as a minority investor without a board seat, has said it will have no access to that member data, a structural choice designed to address the data sovereignty concerns that have historically made Indian regulators cautious about foreign technology companies expanding into financial services. India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 is the governing framework for how platforms handle consumer data of this nature. Its rules covering consent managers and Significant Data Fiduciaries are still being operationalised. Whether the current architecture of the Meta-CRED deal satisfies the RBI and NPCI as WhatsApp's financial services ambitions continue to grow will be a question that regulators, and the market, will be watching closely.

With WhatsApp Pay holding less than 1% of India's UPI market despite 500 million users, the deal of &nbsp;$900 million investment by Meta in CRED is less about money and more about a payments problem Meta has spent six years failing to solve.

With $900 million, Meta eyes at 17 million members, one regulatory window and a payments problem in India

A mango-slicing video shot on a point-of-view camera by someone in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu feeds an artificial intelligence data supply chain whose platform layer is valued at $29 billion in the US. The person who made the video- a labourer or a housewife- is paid $2.6 an hour. This cost arbitrage is pushing a boom in companies in the 'egocentric data' collection sector in India. The data collection is tedious, repetitive, yet important in the AI value chain. India is slowly becoming the egocentric data collection back office of the world. This moment in the history of technology is similar to the one that helped India's call centre boom in the 2000s. But is it back to back office status for India in the age of AI?<h2>What is egocentric data collection?</h2>Egocentric data is first-person video captured using head- or chest-mounted cameras while a person performs everyday tasks. The data collected this way is used to train AI models and humanoid robots to imitate human actions. The footage matches the viewpoint of a robot's own cameras. The data teaches the robot's AI brain the spatial relationships and movement far better than conventional third-person video.The human egocentric data collection approach is also cheaper than collecting data through robot teleoperation. One person with a wearable camera can record an entire workday, making large-scale data collection inexpensive. Benchmark datasets such as Meta's Ego4D were built largely in the West. But now, an increasing share of raw data collection is shifting to India because of cheap labour availability.&nbsp;Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/for-rs-250-per-hour-how-indians-are-selling-their-future-to-american-ai-companies-1781541364347">'For Rs 250 per hour': How Indians are selling their future to American AI companies</a><h2>Will India become the back office of egocentric data collection?</h2>India has already emerged as a major hub for collecting, processing and annotating AI training data. Companies such as Objectways and iMerit run studios where workers record routine household and workplace activities, earning around 250 rupees an hour.The scale is significant. NASSCOM estimates India's AI data annotation industry could exceed $7 billion by 2030 and employ up to one million people. But the real value created out of this data collection lies elsewhere, often in Silicon Valley in the US. India supplies the cheap labour, while ownership of datasets, AI models, humanoid robots, and platforms remains with the foreign firms.&nbsp;Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/it-s-happening-faster-than-expected-how-agentic-ai-is-reshaping-the-tech-industry-1781596627823">It's happening faster than expected: How Agentic AI is reshaping the tech industry</a><h2>India as the egocentric data collection capital of the world: Is it a good thing or a bad thing?</h2>For many workers, especially in the informal economy, egocentric data collection provides income. It creates opportunities in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns of India, and offers flexible work to homemakers and first-generation graduates.The drawbacks are more structural. Most profits from this data collection accrue to AI platforms and humanoid robotics companies. Egocentric data collection helps train robots that may eventually replace many of the same manual tasks being recorded by the workers in India. And there is likely to be an expiry date on such jobs. Demand for such data from big AI and robotics firms can disappear quickly as soon as AI models and humanoid robots improve.<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/ai-could-help-automate-repetitive-and-routine-tasks-1782391332274/embed">https://www.wionews.com/videos/ai-could-help-automate-repetitive-and-routine-tasks-1782391332274/embed</a><h2>The call-centre parallel to India's data annotation industry</h2>The egocentric data collection and annotation industry's evolution resembles India's BPO boom of the 2000s. Both rely on labour arbitrage, repetitive work, and thin margins while serving foreign technology companies, which made billions in profits. Like the call-centre industry, egocentric data collection creates employment in the short term, but leaves ownership of technology and intellectual property elsewhere.Call centres generated long-term middle-class jobs, even if India remained a service provider. It also led to the growth of IT outsourcing, making IT services the single largest export of India. But the same can't be predicted about egocentric data collection.Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-s-ai-problem-funding-gap-for-ai-startups-research-and-development-is-the-core-constraint-artificial-intelligence-news-1782542028012">India's AI problem: Funding gap for AI startups, research and development is the core constraint</a>&nbsp;It is a weak foundation for India's AI ambitions, as it does not create a lasting technological advantage for the country. India might be able to dominate the labour-intensive segment while missing the higher-value layers, where the real profits are.The long-term question is whether India can move beyond collecting data to owning datasets. If it does, egocentric data collection could become the first rung of a larger AI industry. If not, India risks remaining the world's AI back office while the real value is created abroad.

India is fast becoming a global hub for collecting egocentric data to train AI models and robots. For some, it's creating jobs. But who benefits in the value chain of automation?

A mango-slicing video shot on a point-of-view camera by someone in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu feeds an artificial intelligence data supply chain whose platform layer is valued at $29 billion in the US. The person who made the video- a labourer or a housewife- is paid $2.6 an hour. This cost arbitrage is pushing a boom in companies in the 'egocentric data' collection sector in India. The data collection is tedious, repetitive, yet important in the AI value chain. India is slowly becoming the egocentric data collection back office of the world. This moment in the history of technology is similar to the one that helped India's call centre boom in the 2000s. But is it back to back office status for India in the age of AI? What is egocentric data collection? Egocentric data is first-person video captured using head- or chest-mounted cameras while a person performs everyday tasks. The data collected this way is used to train AI models and humanoid robots to imitate human actions. The footage matches the viewpoint of a robot's own cameras. The data teaches the robot's AI brain the spatial relationships and movement far better than conventional third-person video. The human egocentric data collection approach is also cheaper than collecting data through robot teleoperation. One person with a wearable camera can record an entire workday, making large-scale data collection inexpensive. Benchmark datasets such as Meta's Ego4D were built largely in the West. But now, an increasing share of raw data collection is shifting to India because of cheap labour availability. Also read: 'For Rs 250 per hour': How Indians are selling their future to American AI companies Will India become the back office of egocentric data collection? India has already emerged as a major hub for collecting, processing and annotating AI training data. Companies such as Objectways and iMerit run studios where workers record routine household and workplace activities, earning around 250 rupees an hour. The scale is significant. NASSCOM estimates India's AI data annotation industry could exceed $7 billion by 2030 and employ up to one million people. But the real value created out of this data collection lies elsewhere, often in Silicon Valley in the US. India supplies the cheap labour, while ownership of datasets, AI models, humanoid robots, and platforms remains with the foreign firms. Also read: It's happening faster than expected: How Agentic AI is reshaping the tech industry India as the egocentric data collection capital of the world: Is it a good thing or a bad thing? For many workers, especially in the informal economy, egocentric data collection provides income. It creates opportunities in Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns of India, and offers flexible work to homemakers and first-generation graduates. The drawbacks are more structural. Most profits from this data collection accrue to AI platforms and humanoid robotics companies. Egocentric data collection helps train robots that may eventually replace many of the same manual tasks being recorded by the workers in India. And there is likely to be an expiry date on such jobs. Demand for such data from big AI and robotics firms can disappear quickly as soon as AI models and humanoid robots improve. https://www.wionews.com/videos/ai-could-help-automate-repetitive-and-routine-tasks-1782391332274/embed The call-centre parallel to India's data annotation industry The egocentric data collection and annotation industry's evolution resembles India's BPO boom of the 2000s. Both rely on labour arbitrage, repetitive work, and thin margins while serving foreign technology companies, which made billions in profits. Like the call-centre industry, egocentric data collection creates employment in the short term, but leaves ownership of technology and intellectual property elsewhere. Call centres generated long-term middle-class jobs, even if India remained a service provider. It also led to the growth of IT outsourcing, making IT services the single largest export of India. But the same can't be predicted about egocentric data collection. Also read: India's AI problem: Funding gap for AI startups, research and development is the core constraint It is a weak foundation for India's AI ambitions, as it does not create a lasting technological advantage for the country. India might be able to dominate the labour-intensive segment while missing the higher-value layers, where the real profits are. The long-term question is whether India can move beyond collecting data to owning datasets. If it does, egocentric data collection could become the first rung of a larger AI industry. If not, India risks remaining the world's AI back office while the real value is created abroad.

India is fast becoming a global hub for collecting egocentric data to train AI models and robots. For some, it's creating jobs. But who benefits in the value chain of automation?

What is egocentric data? Will india become world's back office for egocentric data collection? is it a good thing or a bad thing?

Artificial Intelligence firm Anthropic recently showed some US lawmakers a demo of its Mythos model, which could identify vulnerabilities in the websites, intranets, and online systems of banking and financial institutions, among other things. The model could either fix those vulnerabilities or exploit them, potentially enabling the theft of funds from bank accounts. Andrew Garbarino, one of the lawmakers who attended the demonstration, has now spoken publicly, expressing alarm at what was shown.<h2>What House Homeland Security Committee Chair Andrew Garbarino said about Anthropic's controversial Mythos model</h2>"They showed us what it could do, and it's scary," Representative Andrew Garbarino, a New York Republican and Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, told Punchbowl News during its "Fly Out Day" programme.Garbarino said the closed-door demonstration left him shaken. During the demo, Anthropic "told the model to find a vulnerability in a bank and empty accounts, and then it went and did it," Garbarino told Punchbowl. He added that Mythos was then able to identify the vulnerability and fix it.<h2>Republican Congressman Garbarino wants the government to act on AI</h2>Garbarino said he wants Washington to move quickly on AI. The Anthropic demo showed that the government must "act soon", he said, while also acknowledging the challenges involved."I say act, but I don't know what the answer is," Garbarino said, admitting that lawmakers have been slow to respond to developments in AI. "We don't know what we have to do," he said, adding, "I'd say 95 per cent of my colleagues don't understand what the hell's going on."<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/us-treasury-to-test-anthropic-s-mythos-for-cyber-risks-1776229191378/embed">https://www.wionews.com/videos/us-treasury-to-test-anthropic-s-mythos-for-cyber-risks-1776229191378/embed</a><h2>Momentum builds towards AI regulation</h2>Garbarino praised US President Donald Trump's executive order directing federal agencies to prepare for AI-driven cyber threats. He also backed a discussion draft released by Representatives Jay Obernolte and Lori Trahan proposing a federal AI regulatory framework. According to Garbarino, government agencies and Congress should be given access to such advanced AI platforms before they are released to the public.Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/anthropic-s-most-powerful-ai-model-gets-partial-us-approval-here-s-what-changed-1782540188737">Anthropic's most powerful AI model gets partial US approval. Here's what changed</a><h2>Demos by Anthropic, OpenAI and others are ringing alarm bells</h2>Details remain limited, but the session described by Garbarino was a private demonstration rather than a public hearing. It formed part of a broader series of briefings for US lawmakers and officials. Axios reported in April that Anthropic and OpenAI had briefed House Homeland Security Committee staff on their cyber-capable AI models during classified sessions.Garbarino's committee has also held public hearings on AI-related security issues, including a December 2025 hearing prompted by Anthropic's disclosure of a largely autonomous cyberattack linked to China.Anthropic officials also demonstrated a so-called "jailbreak", in which an AI model bypasses the safety guardrails imposed by its human developers. According to Garbarino, one unspecified model generated a plan to kidnap a lawmaker in just 30 seconds. He warned that malicious actors could use similar tools to "turn off this gas pipeline" or "increase the amount of chlorine" in a public water system. "You have the ability to not just learn how to do it, but to tell it to do it for you," he said.Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/after-anthropic-us-now-limits-openai-s-latest-powerful-ai-model-to-domestic-users-1782514231980https://www.wionews.com/world/after-anthropic-us-now-limits-openai-s-latest-powerful-ai-model-to-domestic-users-1782514231980">After Anthropic, US now limits OpenAI's latest powerful AI model to domestic users</a><h2>What is Mythos, and how dangerous is it?</h2>Mythos is reported to be Anthropic's most advanced AI model to date. Owing to its capabilities, the company has reportedly withheld it from broad public release. The concerns centres on its ability to identify and exploit security flaws in websites, enterprise networks and other online systems. According to reports, the White House has restricted public access to Mythos and directed Anthropic to limit access to some of its most advanced AI models, including by restricting availability to certain foreign nationals, due to national security concerns.The Associated Press news agency recently reported that Mythos was able to identify vulnerabilities in classified US government systems as part of Anthropic's Project Glasswing, a limited deployment of the model to selected organisations for testing. During a US Senate hearing on 11 June, Senator Mark Warner said the tool "broke into almost all of our classified systems, not in weeks but in hours", underscoring lawmakers' concerns about the cybersecurity risks posed by highly capable AI systems.

US Congressman Andrew Garbarino revealed in an interview that Anthropic's Mythos AI model demonstrated the ability to find and exploit banking vulnerabilities. He is asking for regulation. So are many others in the government and private sectors

Artificial Intelligence firm Anthropic recently showed some US lawmakers a demo of its Mythos model, which could identify vulnerabilities in the websites, intranets, and online systems of banking and financial institutions, among other things. The model could either fix those vulnerabilities or exploit them, potentially enabling the theft of funds from bank accounts. Andrew Garbarino, one of the lawmakers who attended the demonstration, has now spoken publicly, expressing alarm at what was shown. What House Homeland Security Committee Chair Andrew Garbarino said about Anthropic's controversial Mythos model "They showed us what it could do, and it's scary," Representative Andrew Garbarino, a New York Republican and Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, told Punchbowl News during its "Fly Out Day" programme. Garbarino said the closed-door demonstration left him shaken. During the demo, Anthropic "told the model to find a vulnerability in a bank and empty accounts, and then it went and did it," Garbarino told Punchbowl. He added that Mythos was then able to identify the vulnerability and fix it. Republican Congressman Garbarino wants the government to act on AI Garbarino said he wants Washington to move quickly on AI. The Anthropic demo showed that the government must "act soon", he said, while also acknowledging the challenges involved. "I say act, but I don't know what the answer is," Garbarino said, admitting that lawmakers have been slow to respond to developments in AI. "We don't know what we have to do," he said, adding, "I'd say 95 per cent of my colleagues don't understand what the hell's going on." https://www.wionews.com/videos/us-treasury-to-test-anthropic-s-mythos-for-cyber-risks-1776229191378/embed Momentum builds towards AI regulation Garbarino praised US President Donald Trump's executive order directing federal agencies to prepare for AI-driven cyber threats. He also backed a discussion draft released by Representatives Jay Obernolte and Lori Trahan proposing a federal AI regulatory framework. According to Garbarino, government agencies and Congress should be given access to such advanced AI platforms before they are released to the public. Also read: Anthropic's most powerful AI model gets partial US approval. Here's what changed Demos by Anthropic, OpenAI and others are ringing alarm bells Details remain limited, but the session described by Garbarino was a private demonstration rather than a public hearing. It formed part of a broader series of briefings for US lawmakers and officials. Axios reported in April that Anthropic and OpenAI had briefed House Homeland Security Committee staff on their cyber-capable AI models during classified sessions. Garbarino's committee has also held public hearings on AI-related security issues, including a December 2025 hearing prompted by Anthropic's disclosure of a largely autonomous cyberattack linked to China. Anthropic officials also demonstrated a so-called "jailbreak", in which an AI model bypasses the safety guardrails imposed by its human developers. According to Garbarino, one unspecified model generated a plan to kidnap a lawmaker in just 30 seconds. He warned that malicious actors could use similar tools to "turn off this gas pipeline" or "increase the amount of chlorine" in a public water system. "You have the ability to not just learn how to do it, but to tell it to do it for you," he said. Also read: After Anthropic, US now limits OpenAI's latest powerful AI model to domestic users What is Mythos, and how dangerous is it? Mythos is reported to be Anthropic's most advanced AI model to date. Owing to its capabilities, the company has reportedly withheld it from broad public release. The concerns centres on its ability to identify and exploit security flaws in websites, enterprise networks and other online systems. According to reports, the White House has restricted public access to Mythos and directed Anthropic to limit access to some of its most advanced AI models, including by restricting availability to certain foreign nationals, due to national security concerns. The Associated Press news agency recently reported that Mythos was able to identify vulnerabilities in classified US government systems as part of Anthropic's Project Glasswing, a limited deployment of the model to selected organisations for testing. During a US Senate hearing on 11 June, Senator Mark Warner said the tool "broke into almost all of our classified systems, not in weeks but in hours", underscoring lawmakers' concerns about the cybersecurity risks posed by highly capable AI systems.

US Congressman Andrew Garbarino revealed that Anthropic's Mythos AI model demonstrated the ability to find and exploit banking vulnerabilities. He is asking for regulation. So are many others in the government and private sectors

'They showed us what it could do, and it's scary': Congressman on Anthropic Mythos model demo

"Did India miss the AI bus?" This is a frequently asked question at recent artificial intelligence-related events in India. Clearly, the progress has been slow. But what is the reason? The answer may lie in how low, and slow, the investment has been in AI startups, foundational AI model development, and research and development (R&amp;D). Here is a status report:<h2>India's research and development funding gap</h2>India's gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) is around 0.64 per cent of GDP. This is below the global average and far behind China, at around 2.6 per cent, and the US, at around 3.6 per cent, according to the <a href="https://power.lowyinstitute.org/data/economic-capability/technology/rnd-spending-of-gdp/">Lowy Institute</a>. Private industry funds only about 36 per cent of total R&amp;D in India, compared with more than 70 per cent in the US, China and South Korea, according to a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace analysis. It also noted that India trails the two top AI leader nations in AI patents granted, reflecting not only a spending gap but also a quality gap.Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-s-digital-paradox-world-class-talent-third-world-capital-wion-expert-speak-1781084191225">India's digital paradox: World-class talent, third-world capital | WION Expert Speak</a><h2>Investment in AI startups in India reveals a capital chasm</h2>Indian AI startups raised $643 million across 100 deals in 2025, up just 4.1 per cent, while AI funding in US startups surged 141 per cent to $121 billion across 765 rounds, according to Tracxn data reported by <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/27/india-startup-funding-hits-11b-in-2025-as-investors-grow-more-selective/">TechCrunch</a>. Indian capital largely favoured application-led firms over capital-intensive foundational model developers. Investors attribute this to India's lack of large foundational AI model companies and the time required to build research depth, talent pipelines and patient capital.However, there has been a sharp upturn in 2026. Indian AI startups raised <a href="https://www.analyticsinsight.net/amp/story/startups/how-indian-ai-startups-raised-394-billion-in-just-three-months">$3.94 billion</a> in the first quarter of this year alone, more than six times the full-year 2025 total. This was led by Neysa's $600 million funding round and the momentum generated by the AI Impact Summit hosted by India, according to Analytics Insight.New Delhi has reinforced this shift with a $1.15 billion Fund of Funds and a Rs 1 trillion ($12 billion) Research, Development and Innovation scheme spanning AI, quantum computing and deep-tech technologies, as reported by TechCrunch.Much of this remains at the policy announcement and reporting stage, so its long-term durability remains to be seen. However, it is fair to say that the direction has clearly reversed.Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-s-ai-problem-gaps-in-compute-hardware-infrastructure-chips-1781943963441">India's AI problem: Gaps in compute, hardware, infrastructure, chips affect readiness</a><h2>Research output: China leads, India climbs slowly</h2>China dominates high-impact research, with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's (<a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/aspis-critical-technology-tracker-2025-updates-and-10-new-technologies/">ASPI</a>) Critical Technology Tracker, published in December 2025, showing China leading in 66 of 74 critical technologies like AI. India is slowly climbing up, having ranked 50th, up from 43rd a year earlier. India's weakness is concentrated in compute infrastructure and frontier AI model categories that matter most, rather than in the breadth of its research base.<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/how-india-is-positioning-itself-in-an-ai-world-wion-1771597788504/embed">https://www.wionews.com/videos/how-india-is-positioning-itself-in-an-ai-world-wion-1771597788504/embed</a><h2>Foundational AI: India's sovereign model bet</h2>India's foundational AI model push has been stuck in the planning stage for years, but is now moving towards <a href=" https://explainx.ai/blog/india-sovereign-ai-status-indiaai-mission-2026">execution</a>. <a href=" https://www.sarvam.ai/blogs/sarvam-30b-105b">Sarvam AI </a>was selected under the IndiaAI Mission in April 2025 to build the country's first sovereign large language model (LLM) ecosystem. Sarvam's original mandate was to build a 120-billion-parameter model. It <a href="https://www.opensourceforu.com/2026/03/sarvam-releases-30b-and-105b-llms-under-apache-2-0/">released</a> two open-source models in early 2026, Sarvam-30B and Sarvam-105B, under the Apache 2.0 licence on Hugging Face and AIKosh. Both are mixture-of-experts (MoE) reasoning models trained from scratch using government-supported compute infrastructure. A separate awardee, Soket AI, retains the original 120-billion-parameter model mandate.Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/forget-building-ai-india-is-yet-to-build-its-first-fully-indigenous-computer-or-mobile-phone-1781750813969">Forget building AI, India is yet to build its first fully indigenous computer or mobile phone</a> These should be viewed alongside the limitations. Sarvam's models were trained on a few thousand graphics processing units (GPUs) over several months, far below the cluster-months of more than 10,000 GPUs typically required for frontier-scale AI training. In addition, all sovereign model training continues to rely on imported NVIDIA chips, highlighting India's dependence on foreign semiconductor hardware. While India has now demonstrated that it can build and release competitive open-source AI models, closing the capability gap in frontier-scale AI systems remains the more difficult challenge.

India's AI progress has been constrained by low R&D spending and limited startup funding. The IndiaAI Mission and sovereign AI model efforts signal a significant shift in direction. Here is a status report

"Did India miss the AI bus?" This is a frequently asked question at recent artificial intelligence-related events in India. Clearly, the progress has been slow. But what is the reason? The answer may lie in how low, and slow, the investment has been in AI startups, foundational AI model development, and research and development (R&D). Here is a status report: India's research and development funding gap India's gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) is around 0.64 per cent of GDP. This is below the global average and far behind China, at around 2.6 per cent, and the US, at around 3.6 per cent, according to the Lowy Institute. Private industry funds only about 36 per cent of total R&D in India, compared with more than 70 per cent in the US, China and South Korea, according to a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace analysis. It also noted that India trails the two top AI leader nations in AI patents granted, reflecting not only a spending gap but also a quality gap. Also read: India's digital paradox: World-class talent, third-world capital | WION Expert Speak Investment in AI startups in India reveals a capital chasm Indian AI startups raised $643 million across 100 deals in 2025, up just 4.1 per cent, while AI funding in US startups surged 141 per cent to $121 billion across 765 rounds, according to Tracxn data reported by TechCrunch. Indian capital largely favoured application-led firms over capital-intensive foundational model developers. Investors attribute this to India's lack of large foundational AI model companies and the time required to build research depth, talent pipelines and patient capital. However, there has been a sharp upturn in 2026. Indian AI startups raised $3.94 billion in the first quarter of this year alone, more than six times the full-year 2025 total. This was led by Neysa's $600 million funding round and the momentum generated by the AI Impact Summit hosted by India, according to Analytics Insight. New Delhi has reinforced this shift with a $1.15 billion Fund of Funds and a Rs 1 trillion ($12 billion) Research, Development and Innovation scheme spanning AI, quantum computing and deep-tech technologies, as reported by TechCrunch. Much of this remains at the policy announcement and reporting stage, so its long-term durability remains to be seen. However, it is fair to say that the direction has clearly reversed. Also read: India's AI problem: Gaps in compute, hardware, infrastructure, chips affect readiness Research output: China leads, India climbs slowly China dominates high-impact research, with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's (ASPI) Critical Technology Tracker, published in December 2025, showing China leading in 66 of 74 critical technologies like AI. India is slowly climbing up, having ranked 50th, up from 43rd a year earlier. India's weakness is concentrated in compute infrastructure and frontier AI model categories that matter most, rather than in the breadth of its research base. https://www.wionews.com/videos/how-india-is-positioning-itself-in-an-ai-world-wion-1771597788504/embed Foundational AI: India's sovereign model bet India's foundational AI model push has been stuck in the planning stage for years, but is now moving towards execution. Sarvam AI was selected under the IndiaAI Mission in April 2025 to build the country's first sovereign large language model (LLM) ecosystem. Sarvam's original mandate was to build a 120-billion-parameter model. It released two open-source models in early 2026, Sarvam-30B and Sarvam-105B, under the Apache 2.0 licence on Hugging Face and AIKosh. Both are mixture-of-experts (MoE) reasoning models trained from scratch using government-supported compute infrastructure. A separate awardee, Soket AI, retains the original 120-billion-parameter model mandate. Also read: Forget building AI, India is yet to build its first fully indigenous computer or mobile phone These should be viewed alongside the limitations. Sarvam's models were trained on a few thousand graphics processing units (GPUs) over several months, far below the cluster-months of more than 10,000 GPUs typically required for frontier-scale AI training. In addition, all sovereign model training continues to rely on imported NVIDIA chips, highlighting India's dependence on foreign semiconductor hardware. While India has now demonstrated that it can build and release competitive open-source AI models, closing the capability gap in frontier-scale AI systems remains the more difficult challenge.

India's AI progress has been constrained by low R&amp;D spending and limited startup funding. The IndiaAI Mission and sovereign AI model efforts signal a significant shift in direction. Here is a status report

India's AI problem: Funding gap for AI startups, research and development is the core constraint

Asian stock markets saw sharp declines on Friday as a global selloff in technology shares intensified, resulting in South Korea's main stock index, KOSPI, falling over 8 per cent, forcing authorities to temporarily halt trading through a circuit breaker mechanism. Japan's Nikkei 225 index also fell nearly 5 per cent amid fears of recent surge in the artificial intelligence-related stocks has run too far and too fast. In addition, Hong Kong's Hang Seng also declined 2.4 per cent, the blue-chip CSI300 index of China fell by 2.9 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite lost over 2 per cent. Friday's losses came after another broad selloff across Asian markets earlier this week. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index, excluding Japan, declined 3.8 per cent, marking the biggest weekly decline in more than a year. This followed a strong rally in regional markets earlier in the quarter.<h3>Why the sudden fall of Asian stock markets?</h3>The development unfolded after American technology giant Apple announced to jack up prices of some of its product lines by as much as 20 per cent. It raised prices across its iPad and MacBook, citing a rise in chip costs due to the recent global AI surge. Apple has also increased prices across TVs and HomePods. Additionally, the Asian market tanked as the South Korean government announced to tax unrealised gains on equities, which weighed on sentiment for AI and chip-related stocks. Following the announcement on Thursday, it triggered panic across markets, prompting investors to opt to reduce their exposures in AI and tech stocks. The Nasdaq Composite index in the US fell by 0.5 per cent overnight. Similarly, Apple's shares declined by more than 6 per cent. Competitor Dell declined 5.5 per cent, and the rest of the other big tech stocks in the US also ended lower. In Asia, shares of SK Hynix tumbled more than 8 per cent on Friday, while TSMC and Samsung recorded losses between 2 and 5 per cent.&nbsp;Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/ai-is-making-xbox-consoles-more-expensive-here-s-why-microsoft-raised-prices-1782460762910">AI is making Xbox consoles more expensive. Here's why Microsoft raised prices</a><h3>Shortages of graphics and memory chips</h3>The decline comes as companies worldwide continue to grapple with rising costs and shortages of graphics and memory chips. The global semiconductor industry is largely dominated by major players such as SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron Technology. These manufacturers have increasingly prioritised the production of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI data centres because they generate higher profits. As a result, production capacity for chips commonly used in consumer electronics—including smartphones, personal computers, laptops and other devices—has been significantly reduced. The shift has contributed to a shortage of consumer-grade chips, driving up prices across the electronics sector. The situation, often referred to as the "RAMageddon" shortage, has prompted companies such as HP Inc., Dell Technologies and ASUS to increase prices. Shortly after Apple announced price hikes on Monday, gaming giant Xbox also revealed price increases of up to 25 per cent, marking its second such move within a year. Industry experts also underscored that Asian stock markets have come under intense pressure in recent months due to geopolitical tensions, soaring oil prices, and growing competition from China, along with concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) valuations. Reacting to the recent development in Asia's overall stock market, Harsha Vardhana VM, Founder and CEO of Atom Financial Services Group, said the current selloff is driven not only by a single factor but several challenges hitting the markets simultaneously. "Oil is probably the most straightforward piece. Once the US-Iran conflict pushed crude past $100 a barrel, the damage spread quickly and widely. South Korea, Japan, and India do not produce enough oil domestically to absorb that kind of price move without feeling it. Companies saw their costs go up. Households started pulling back on spending. And then the Federal Reserve, watching energy keep inflation elevated, found itself with fewer reasons to cut rates. A cautious Fed means a stronger dollar, and a stronger dollar is generally bad news for Asian currencies and the foreign investors who hold Asian assets. So what started as a geopolitical shock in the Middle East ended up sitting in the profit margins of a Korean steelmaker or an Indian airline. That is how connected these things are," Harsha Vardhana VM said.&nbsp;WATCH: https://www.wionews.com/videos/france-intercepts-suspected-russian-shadow-fleet-tanker-at-sea-1782474149108/embed<h3>AI rally loses momentum</h3>The technology sector, which powered most of the market of Asia gains in 2025, has also become a source of concern. South Korea and Taiwan benefited enormously from the booming demand for semiconductors and AI-related technologies. However, investors are now having several questions about whether stock prices accurately reflect company earnings. According to Vardhana, valuations in the semiconductor sector became increasingly disconnected from fundamentals. "The AI story is a bit more uncomfortable to tell, because it involves markets getting carried away with a genuinely real theme. South Korea and Taiwan had a spectacular 2025. The world wanted semiconductors, and these were the countries that made them. But at some point, the valuations stopped reflecting what companies were actually earning and started reflecting what investors hoped they would earn. When Broadcom came out in early June with AI chip revenue that fell short of expectations, it was not a disaster on its own. But it was enough to remind everyone that the earnings story had not quite caught up to the price story, and valuations were stretched too. In markets priced the way those were, that reminder tends to be expensive," he said. "Most of the coverage around the Asian selloff has focused on oil prices and chip stocks, and those are fair explanations as far as they go. But there is a bigger and more unsettling story sitting underneath all of it that is not getting the attention it deserves. For a long time, the Asian growth story rested on a fairly comfortable assumption. Countries like South Korea, Taiwan and Japan had built real advantages in industries the world depended on. What 2026 is starting to reveal is that some of that advantage was genuinely earned, and some of it was there simply because China had not yet decided to show up and compete for it," he added.<h3>China's growing competitive challenge</h3>Beyond short-term concerns over oil prices and technology stocks, Vardhana believes a more significant structural shift is taking place across Asia. For decades, countries such as South Korea, Taiwan and Japan built strong competitive advantages in sectors ranging from semiconductors and batteries to automobiles and shipbuilding. However, China is increasingly challenging that dominance. "What 2026 is starting to reveal is that some of that advantage was genuinely earned, and some of it was there simply because China had not yet decided to show up and compete for it. South Korea is the place where this is most stark. The country built its entire economic identity around a handful of industries. Semiconductors. Displays. Batteries. Automobiles. Shipbuilding. For decades, these were South Korean industries, and that was more or less taken for granted. Chinese firms have reportedly now overtaken South Korea in seven of those eight categories. Not nibbled away at the edges. Overtaken. And the money knew this before the headlines did. Foreign investors had been quietly selling out of Samsung for months before the big crash. &nbsp;The 12.2% single-day fall in the KOSPI in March was not a shock to anyone who had been paying attention. It was more like a conclusion that markets had been slowly writing for a while and finally signed off on," Vardhana said. He added that China's own equity markets have their problems; however, separate from the role of the Shanghai Composite on any given day, the competitive pressure that Chinese manufacturers are putting on the rest of the region is not a cyclical thing. Vardhana noted that it does not ease when sentiment improves or when a ceasefire stops, as it is a slow, structural reshaping of who makes what and at what price. That is the part of this story worth sitting with.<h3>What does it mean for India?</h3>India faces a different set of challenges. While the country has benefited from domestic growth drivers such as interest rate cuts, recovering consumption and government-led infrastructure spending, valuations remain demanding. Vardhana warned that Indian equities have little room for disappointment. "India is caught in the crossfire even though its problems are different in nature. The domestic fundamentals, rate cuts, a recovering consumption cycle, and a government capex push are still intact. But at a forward P/E of 23 times, there is no room for earnings to disappoint in the second half of the year. Clients with heavy exposure to global tech funds or IT-heavy portfolios should be looking at rebalancing toward domestic consumption and quality financials. Gold deserves a place in the allocation while oil and geopolitical risk remain elevated. And anyone waiting for FII flows to rescue Indian markets in the near term should probably plan around domestic conviction instead," he further said.

Industry experts highlighted that Asian stock markets have come under intense pressure in recent months due to geopolitical tensions, soaring oil prices, and growing competition from China, along with concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) valuations. 

Asian stock markets saw sharp declines on Friday as a global selloff in technology shares intensified, resulting in South Korea's main stock index, KOSPI, falling over 8 per cent, forcing authorities to temporarily halt trading through a circuit breaker mechanism. Japan's Nikkei 225 index also fell nearly 5 per cent amid fears of recent surge in the artificial intelligence-related stocks has run too far and too fast. In addition, Hong Kong's Hang Seng also declined 2.4 per cent, the blue-chip CSI300 index of China fell by 2.9 per cent, and the Shanghai Composite lost over 2 per cent. Friday's losses came after another broad selloff across Asian markets earlier this week. The MSCI Asia-Pacific index, excluding Japan, declined 3.8 per cent, marking the biggest weekly decline in more than a year. This followed a strong rally in regional markets earlier in the quarter. Why the sudden fall of Asian stock markets? The development unfolded after American technology giant Apple announced to jack up prices of some of its product lines by as much as 20 per cent. It raised prices across its iPad and MacBook, citing a rise in chip costs due to the recent global AI surge. Apple has also increased prices across TVs and HomePods. Additionally, the Asian market tanked as the South Korean government announced to tax unrealised gains on equities, which weighed on sentiment for AI and chip-related stocks. Following the announcement on Thursday, it triggered panic across markets, prompting investors to opt to reduce their exposures in AI and tech stocks. The Nasdaq Composite index in the US fell by 0.5 per cent overnight. Similarly, Apple's shares declined by more than 6 per cent. Competitor Dell declined 5.5 per cent, and the rest of the other big tech stocks in the US also ended lower. In Asia, shares of SK Hynix tumbled more than 8 per cent on Friday, while TSMC and Samsung recorded losses between 2 and 5 per cent. Also read: AI is making Xbox consoles more expensive. Here's why Microsoft raised prices Shortages of graphics and memory chips The decline comes as companies worldwide continue to grapple with rising costs and shortages of graphics and memory chips. The global semiconductor industry is largely dominated by major players such as SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron Technology. These manufacturers have increasingly prioritised the production of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI data centres because they generate higher profits. As a result, production capacity for chips commonly used in consumer electronics—including smartphones, personal computers, laptops and other devices—has been significantly reduced. The shift has contributed to a shortage of consumer-grade chips, driving up prices across the electronics sector. The situation, often referred to as the "RAMageddon" shortage, has prompted companies such as HP Inc., Dell Technologies and ASUS to increase prices. Shortly after Apple announced price hikes on Monday, gaming giant Xbox also revealed price increases of up to 25 per cent, marking its second such move within a year. Industry experts also underscored that Asian stock markets have come under intense pressure in recent months due to geopolitical tensions, soaring oil prices, and growing competition from China, along with concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) valuations. Reacting to the recent development in Asia's overall stock market, Harsha Vardhana VM, Founder and CEO of Atom Financial Services Group, said the current selloff is driven not only by a single factor but several challenges hitting the markets simultaneously. "Oil is probably the most straightforward piece. Once the US-Iran conflict pushed crude past $100 a barrel, the damage spread quickly and widely. South Korea, Japan, and India do not produce enough oil domestically to absorb that kind of price move without feeling it. Companies saw their costs go up. Households started pulling back on spending. And then the Federal Reserve, watching energy keep inflation elevated, found itself with fewer reasons to cut rates. A cautious Fed means a stronger dollar, and a stronger dollar is generally bad news for Asian currencies and the foreign investors who hold Asian assets. So what started as a geopolitical shock in the Middle East ended up sitting in the profit margins of a Korean steelmaker or an Indian airline. That is how connected these things are," Harsha Vardhana VM said. WATCH: https://www.wionews.com/videos/france-intercepts-suspected-russian-shadow-fleet-tanker-at-sea-1782474149108/embed AI rally loses momentum The technology sector, which powered most of the market of Asia gains in 2025, has also become a source of concern. South Korea and Taiwan benefited enormously from the booming demand for semiconductors and AI-related technologies. However, investors are now having several questions about whether stock prices accurately reflect company earnings. According to Vardhana, valuations in the semiconductor sector became increasingly disconnected from fundamentals. "The AI story is a bit more uncomfortable to tell, because it involves markets getting carried away with a genuinely real theme. South Korea and Taiwan had a spectacular 2025. The world wanted semiconductors, and these were the countries that made them. But at some point, the valuations stopped reflecting what companies were actually earning and started reflecting what investors hoped they would earn. When Broadcom came out in early June with AI chip revenue that fell short of expectations, it was not a disaster on its own. But it was enough to remind everyone that the earnings story had not quite caught up to the price story, and valuations were stretched too. In markets priced the way those were, that reminder tends to be expensive," he said. "Most of the coverage around the Asian selloff has focused on oil prices and chip stocks, and those are fair explanations as far as they go. But there is a bigger and more unsettling story sitting underneath all of it that is not getting the attention it deserves. For a long time, the Asian growth story rested on a fairly comfortable assumption. Countries like South Korea, Taiwan and Japan had built real advantages in industries the world depended on. What 2026 is starting to reveal is that some of that advantage was genuinely earned, and some of it was there simply because China had not yet decided to show up and compete for it," he added. China's growing competitive challenge Beyond short-term concerns over oil prices and technology stocks, Vardhana believes a more significant structural shift is taking place across Asia. For decades, countries such as South Korea, Taiwan and Japan built strong competitive advantages in sectors ranging from semiconductors and batteries to automobiles and shipbuilding. However, China is increasingly challenging that dominance. "What 2026 is starting to reveal is that some of that advantage was genuinely earned, and some of it was there simply because China had not yet decided to show up and compete for it. South Korea is the place where this is most stark. The country built its entire economic identity around a handful of industries. Semiconductors. Displays. Batteries. Automobiles. Shipbuilding. For decades, these were South Korean industries, and that was more or less taken for granted. Chinese firms have reportedly now overtaken South Korea in seven of those eight categories. Not nibbled away at the edges. Overtaken. And the money knew this before the headlines did. Foreign investors had been quietly selling out of Samsung for months before the big crash. The 12.2% single-day fall in the KOSPI in March was not a shock to anyone who had been paying attention. It was more like a conclusion that markets had been slowly writing for a while and finally signed off on," Vardhana said. He added that China's own equity markets have their problems; however, separate from the role of the Shanghai Composite on any given day, the competitive pressure that Chinese manufacturers are putting on the rest of the region is not a cyclical thing. Vardhana noted that it does not ease when sentiment improves or when a ceasefire stops, as it is a slow, structural reshaping of who makes what and at what price. That is the part of this story worth sitting with. What does it mean for India? India faces a different set of challenges. While the country has benefited from domestic growth drivers such as interest rate cuts, recovering consumption and government-led infrastructure spending, valuations remain demanding. Vardhana warned that Indian equities have little room for disappointment. "India is caught in the crossfire even though its problems are different in nature. The domestic fundamentals, rate cuts, a recovering consumption cycle, and a government capex push are still intact. But at a forward P/E of 23 times, there is no room for earnings to disappoint in the second half of the year. Clients with heavy exposure to global tech funds or IT-heavy portfolios should be looking at rebalancing toward domestic consumption and quality financials. Gold deserves a place in the allocation while oil and geopolitical risk remain elevated. And anyone waiting for FII flows to rescue Indian markets in the near term should probably plan around domestic conviction instead," he further said.

Industry experts highlighted that Asian stock markets have come under intense pressure in recent months due to geopolitical tensions, soaring oil prices, and growing competition from China, along with concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) valuations.&nbsp;

From South Korea to Japan: Why are Asian stock markets bleeding billions? Expert reveals shocking details

What could be called 'artificial intelligence cannibalism' is allegedly being committed by Chinese AI firms targeting American AI company Anthropic. In a recent formal complaint, Anthropic publicly accused Chinese tech giant Alibaba's Qwen AI lab of conducting the largest known "adversarial distillation attack" to extract capabilities from its widely used Claude AI models. How does AI distillation work? Here is what you should know.<h2>What is Anthropic accusing Alibaba of doing?</h2>Ahead of the upcoming US Senate hearing on artificial intelligence, Anthropic sent a letter on &nbsp;June 10 to US Senators Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/anthropic-says-alibaba-illicitly-extracted-claude-ai-model-capabilities-2026-06-24/">alleging </a>that millions of ‘AI distillation’ attacks were carried out by Alibaba's AI wing on Claude.The letter claimed that operators linked to Alibaba and its Qwen AI lab used approximately 25,000 fraudulent accounts to generate more than 28.8 million exchanges with Claude models. These exchanges consisted of interactions and prompts submitted to the AI model over a six-week period between 22 April and 5 June 2026. &nbsp;Anthropic described the attacks as an effort to "brazenly and illicitly" extract Claude's capabilities and called it the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-claims-alibaba-ran-brazen-campaign-to-access-its-claude-ai-model-69d7a392">largest known </a>distillation attack against the company to date.Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/are-ai-tools-reducing-people-s-critical-thinking-skills-1777272249863">Are AI tools reducing people’s critical thinking skills?</a><h2>What is an 'adversarial distillation attack'?</h2>An adversarial distillation attack is a technique in which a stronger AI model—in this case Claude—is queried at scale to collect high-quality responses and outputs from it. These responses are then used to train or improve weaker or less capable AI models. This method allows attackers to replicate advanced capabilities of large language models (LLMs), including reasoning, coding and agentic behaviour, at a fraction of the original training cost, without direct access to the model's weights or architecture.AI model distillation is increasingly being used as a low-cost method by competitors, particularly those facing computing or AI chip-related sanctions, to narrow the gap with leading US AI laboratories such as Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. Anthropic has been increasingly vocal about these threats.Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/ai-is-making-your-next-macbook-more-expensive-here-s-why-1782458264297">AI is making your next MacBook more expensive. Here's why</a><h2>Alibaba allegedly targeted Anthropic's agentic reasoning, autonomous and coding capabilities</h2>In the letter, Anthropic claimed that the alleged distillation campaign from China specifically targeted Claude's most valuable and commercially sensitive capabilities, including software engineering, coding, agentic reasoning, autonomous decision-making and task handling. According to the company, Claude's ability to perform long-horizon and complex tasks, as well as its advanced reasoning capabilities, were also targeted.Anthropic said these actions violated its terms of service and geographic access restrictions, given that Claude is not officially available in China, while allegedly ignoring repeated US government warnings about AI intellectual property theft.<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/debate-continues-over-ai-s-impact-on-human-jobs-summer-davos-1782373302795/embed">https://www.wionews.com/videos/debate-continues-over-ai-s-impact-on-human-jobs-summer-davos-1782373302795/embed</a><h2>Past instances of AI distillation attacks targeting Anthropic</h2>This is not the first time that American AI companies have faced alleged distillation attacks. In February 2026, Anthropic publicly identified similar, although smaller-scale, campaigns by other Chinese AI labs. The company allegedly recorded around 150,000 exchanges from DeepSeek, more than 3.4 million exchanges from Moonshot AI, and approximately 13 million exchanges from MiniMax. These campaigns were significantly smaller than Alibaba's alleged 28.8 million exchanges.Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ai-washing-is-here-fake-product-claims-citing-ai-as-cause-of-layoffs-and-more-and-no-ai-won-t-cure-diseases-doctors-will-1782370454223">'AI Washing': Fake product claims, citing AI as cause of layoffs, and more. And no, AI won't cure diseases, doctors will</a><h2>White House accusations of Chinese "industrial-scale" AI intellectual property theft</h2>Shortly after Anthropic sent the letter, the US Department of Commerce, on June 12, imposed restrictions on access to the company's newest AI models, Mythos and Fable, citing concerns that they could be used by military and intelligence entities in China and other countries of concern. Anthropic subsequently disabled global access to those models.Around the same time, Alibaba was added to the US Department of Defense's list of Chinese military companies, alongside several other Chinese firms. Alibaba is challenging that designation.Anthropic has called for coordinated government-industry action, greater threat intelligence sharing and stronger penalties to protect US leadership in artificial intelligence.The company has also expressed support for US government's efforts to combat AI intellectual property theft and reaffirmed its commitment to working with Congress and the administration on the issue. Alibaba's shares reportedly fell by around 3 per cent following news of the allegations, while the controversy renewed debate over national security, intellectual property protection and the global AI arms race.

Anthropic accused Alibaba's Qwen AI lab of carrying out the largest known AI 'distillation attack' on Claude. Millions of interactions were used to extract advanced AI capabilities, it claimed. But what is a distillation attack?

What could be called 'artificial intelligence cannibalism' is allegedly being committed by Chinese AI firms targeting American AI company Anthropic. In a recent formal complaint, Anthropic publicly accused Chinese tech giant Alibaba's Qwen AI lab of conducting the largest known "adversarial distillation attack" to extract capabilities from its widely used Claude AI models. How does AI distillation work? Here is what you should know. What is Anthropic accusing Alibaba of doing? Ahead of the upcoming US Senate hearing on artificial intelligence, Anthropic sent a letter on June 10 to US Senators Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, alleging that millions of ‘AI distillation’ attacks were carried out by Alibaba's AI wing on Claude. The letter claimed that operators linked to Alibaba and its Qwen AI lab used approximately 25,000 fraudulent accounts to generate more than 28.8 million exchanges with Claude models. These exchanges consisted of interactions and prompts submitted to the AI model over a six-week period between 22 April and 5 June 2026. Anthropic described the attacks as an effort to "brazenly and illicitly" extract Claude's capabilities and called it the largest known distillation attack against the company to date. Also read: Are AI tools reducing people’s critical thinking skills? What is an 'adversarial distillation attack'? An adversarial distillation attack is a technique in which a stronger AI model—in this case Claude—is queried at scale to collect high-quality responses and outputs from it. These responses are then used to train or improve weaker or less capable AI models. This method allows attackers to replicate advanced capabilities of large language models (LLMs), including reasoning, coding and agentic behaviour, at a fraction of the original training cost, without direct access to the model's weights or architecture. AI model distillation is increasingly being used as a low-cost method by competitors, particularly those facing computing or AI chip-related sanctions, to narrow the gap with leading US AI laboratories such as Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. Anthropic has been increasingly vocal about these threats. Also read: AI is making your next MacBook more expensive. Here's why Alibaba allegedly targeted Anthropic's agentic reasoning, autonomous and coding capabilities In the letter, Anthropic claimed that the alleged distillation campaign from China specifically targeted Claude's most valuable and commercially sensitive capabilities, including software engineering, coding, agentic reasoning, autonomous decision-making and task handling. According to the company, Claude's ability to perform long-horizon and complex tasks, as well as its advanced reasoning capabilities, were also targeted. Anthropic said these actions violated its terms of service and geographic access restrictions, given that Claude is not officially available in China, while allegedly ignoring repeated US government warnings about AI intellectual property theft. https://www.wionews.com/videos/debate-continues-over-ai-s-impact-on-human-jobs-summer-davos-1782373302795/embed Past instances of AI distillation attacks targeting Anthropic This is not the first time that American AI companies have faced alleged distillation attacks. In February 2026, Anthropic publicly identified similar, although smaller-scale, campaigns by other Chinese AI labs. The company allegedly recorded around 150,000 exchanges from DeepSeek, more than 3.4 million exchanges from Moonshot AI, and approximately 13 million exchanges from MiniMax. These campaigns were significantly smaller than Alibaba's alleged 28.8 million exchanges. Also read: 'AI Washing': Fake product claims, citing AI as cause of layoffs, and more. And no, AI won't cure diseases, doctors will White House accusations of Chinese "industrial-scale" AI intellectual property theft Shortly after Anthropic sent the letter, the US Department of Commerce, on June 12, imposed restrictions on access to the company's newest AI models, Mythos and Fable, citing concerns that they could be used by military and intelligence entities in China and other countries of concern. Anthropic subsequently disabled global access to those models. Around the same time, Alibaba was added to the US Department of Defense's list of Chinese military companies, alongside several other Chinese firms. Alibaba is challenging that designation. Anthropic has called for coordinated government-industry action, greater threat intelligence sharing and stronger penalties to protect US leadership in artificial intelligence. The company has also expressed support for US government's efforts to combat AI intellectual property theft and reaffirmed its commitment to working with Congress and the administration on the issue. Alibaba's shares reportedly fell by around 3 per cent following news of the allegations, while the controversy renewed debate over national security, intellectual property protection and the global AI arms race.

Anthropic accused Alibaba's Qwen AI lab of carrying out the largest known AI 'distillation attack' on its AI Claude model. Millions of interactions were used to extract advanced AI capabilities, it claimed. But what is a distillation attack?

‘AI Cannibalism’: Anthropic accuses Chinese tech giant Alibaba of 29 million adversarial distillation attacks. What is it?

Asian equity markets are tumbling again across all major indexes on Friday. From South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei, Taiwan's Taiex, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, to Shanghai's composite index, there was a massive sell-off as traders rushed to cash out on their AI gains. &nbsp;Following a massive 6.1 per cent overnight dive by Apple on Wall Street, institutional investors aggressively dumped AI-exposed and semiconductor equities across Asia.&nbsp;The decline was led by South Korea's Kospi, which fell by around 8 per cent, triggering another circuit breaker, the second such halt in a matter of days; it lost around $340 bn in market valuation. Kospi has seen the wildest swings over the last five days after hitting record valuation amid growing concerns about an AI bubble. The benchmark South Korean index reached at 9,385.59 points, before falling to 8,411.21 on Friday. Tokyo's Nikkei plunged more than 4.15 per cent to 69,360, losing around $355 Billion. It was the heaviest hit index with SoftBank plunging more than 13 per cent. This was followed by Taiwan's Taiex, which gave up 3.3 per cent, $127 Billion. A similar sell-off was seen in China's blue-chip CSI300 index and Hong Kong Hang Seng at $229 billion.Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/south-korea-kospi-black-tuesday-crash-ai-rally-fears-1782293032201">South Korea's 'Black Tuesday'- Why KOSPI suffered its worst-ever points decline</a><h2>Why is there a bloodbath in the Asian Market?</h2>The bloodbath in the Asian market followed a massive dip on Wall Street. The anatomy of the global feedback loop functioned like a mirror image as the two dragged each other down in a domino effect. On Monday night, June 22, Kospi hit its record valuation of 9,385.59 points. The next day was “Black Tuesday” when regulators issued stark leverage warnings on overextended retail ETFs. The KOSPI plunged 10 per cent, halting domestic trading via emergency circuit breakers. Tuesday afternoon, Wall Street faces an “AI Wake Up call,” Nasdaq 100 drops 2.21 per cent, Nvidia drops 4.1 per cent, and Micron sinks 13.2 per cent. On Thursday, Apple rises price of its Mac, iPad, and home device lineups. There were hikes of 15 per cent to 25 per cent, driven by exuberant demand for AI chips, triggering a massive sell-off in Apple stocks 6.1 per cent overnight. Nasdaq futures dive another 1.7 per cent amid rumours of an OpenAI IPO delay. Then on Friday, Asian investors executed a massive sell-off.Analysts are divided on calling it a signal of an AI bubble burst or a market correction. The correction camp argues that KOSPI was up 62 per cent for the quarter and the Nikkei was up 34 per cent leading into this week. So a pullback was normal. While the AI Bubble camp argues that massive AI capex without any proper demand has been a warning sign for investors. Now, delays from the OpenAI IPO are hinting at the market's ability to sustain another AI IPO. The significant indicator is the lock-up expiry of SpaceX IPO, which is due in August, when the float of 5 per cent stocks will receive additional 20 per cent, a massive supply shock. The ongoing global technology rout heavily changes how insiders will behave when the unlock gate drops.&nbsp;

Asian stock markets plunged as AI-related stocks triggered a massive sell-off following Wall Street losses. Here's what caused the sharp decline.Asian stock markets plunged as AI-related stocks triggered a massive sell-off following Wall Street losses. Here's what caused the sharp decline.

Asian equity markets are tumbling again across all major indexes on Friday. From South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei, Taiwan's Taiex, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, to Shanghai's composite index, there was a massive sell-off as traders rushed to cash out on their AI gains. Following a massive 6.1 per cent overnight dive by Apple on Wall Street, institutional investors aggressively dumped AI-exposed and semiconductor equities across Asia. The decline was led by South Korea's Kospi, which fell by around 8 per cent, triggering another circuit breaker, the second such halt in a matter of days; it lost around $340 bn in market valuation. Kospi has seen the wildest swings over the last five days after hitting record valuation amid growing concerns about an AI bubble. The benchmark South Korean index reached at 9,385.59 points, before falling to 8,411.21 on Friday. Tokyo's Nikkei plunged more than 4.15 per cent to 69,360, losing around $355 Billion. It was the heaviest hit index with SoftBank plunging more than 13 per cent. This was followed by Taiwan's Taiex, which gave up 3.3 per cent, $127 Billion. A similar sell-off was seen in China's blue-chip CSI300 index and Hong Kong Hang Seng at $229 billion. Also Read: South Korea's 'Black Tuesday'- Why KOSPI suffered its worst-ever points decline Why is there a bloodbath in the Asian Market? The bloodbath in the Asian market followed a massive dip on Wall Street. The anatomy of the global feedback loop functioned like a mirror image as the two dragged each other down in a domino effect. On Monday night, June 22, Kospi hit its record valuation of 9,385.59 points. The next day was “Black Tuesday” when regulators issued stark leverage warnings on overextended retail ETFs. The KOSPI plunged 10 per cent, halting domestic trading via emergency circuit breakers. Tuesday afternoon, Wall Street faces an “AI Wake Up call,” Nasdaq 100 drops 2.21 per cent, Nvidia drops 4.1 per cent, and Micron sinks 13.2 per cent. On Thursday, Apple rises price of its Mac, iPad, and home device lineups. There were hikes of 15 per cent to 25 per cent, driven by exuberant demand for AI chips, triggering a massive sell-off in Apple stocks 6.1 per cent overnight. Nasdaq futures dive another 1.7 per cent amid rumours of an OpenAI IPO delay. Then on Friday, Asian investors executed a massive sell-off. Analysts are divided on calling it a signal of an AI bubble burst or a market correction. The correction camp argues that KOSPI was up 62 per cent for the quarter and the Nikkei was up 34 per cent leading into this week. So a pullback was normal. While the AI Bubble camp argues that massive AI capex without any proper demand has been a warning sign for investors. Now, delays from the OpenAI IPO are hinting at the market's ability to sustain another AI IPO. The significant indicator is the lock-up expiry of SpaceX IPO, which is due in August, when the float of 5 per cent stocks will receive additional 20 per cent, a massive supply shock. The ongoing global technology rout heavily changes how insiders will behave when the unlock gate drops.

Asian stock markets plunged as AI-related stocks triggered a massive sell-off following Wall Street losses. Here's what caused the sharp decline.

Asian stock market bloodbath: Sell-off wipes out billions across Kospi, Nikkei and Hang Seng

&nbsp;Artificial intelligence is making computers smarter. It is also making them more expensive. Apple recently increased prices for several MacBook and iPad models after memory costs surged, highlighting a growing problem across the technology industry. The company says demand for memory chips has risen so quickly that it has become difficult for consumer electronics makers to secure enough supply at reasonable prices. The shortage is largely being driven by AI companies building massive data centres to train and run increasingly powerful artificial intelligence models.<h2>Why AI needs so much memory</h2>Every AI model relies on enormous amounts of high-speed memory. Whether it is ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or other large AI systems, they all run on servers packed with advanced processors and memory chips. These chips temporarily store huge amounts of data while AI models process requests. As companies race to build larger AI systems, demand for memory has climbed sharply. Technology firms including Google, OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta are investing billions of dollars in AI infrastructure. That has increased competition for memory chips that are also used in consumer products such as laptops, tablets and smartphones.<h2>Why Apple is paying more</h2>Apple does not manufacture its own memory chips. Instead, it buys DRAM and NAND flash memory from suppliers such as Samsung, SK hynix and Micron. As AI companies place larger and more profitable orders, suppliers have shifted more production towards AI-focused hardware. That has tightened supply for consumer electronics manufacturers. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently described the situation as unlike anything he has seen during his decades in the technology industry. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Cook compared the current memory market to a "hundred-year flood" and said suppliers were passing on significant price increases because demand had outpaced available supply. According to Apple, the increase became large enough that the company had to raise prices on selected MacBook and iPad models.<h2>Why memory makers are prioritising AI</h2>The memory industry has changed dramatically over the past two years. During the slowdown in 2023, manufacturers cut investment after profits fell sharply.&nbsp;Now, demand has returned but from a different source.&nbsp;Instead of smartphones and personal computers, AI servers have become the biggest buyers of advanced memory. These customers are often willing to pay more than traditional consumer electronics companies because memory is essential for training and running AI models. That has encouraged suppliers to prioritise AI-related production, further reducing available supply for consumer devices.<h2>Could iPhones become more expensive?</h2>Apple has not announced price increases for iPhones. However, industry analysts believe the same market pressures could eventually affect other products if memory prices remain elevated.Much will depend on whether memory manufacturers expand production quickly enough to meet growing AI demand while maintaining supply for consumer electronics. For now, Apple says it hopes pricing and supply return to more normal levels.<h2>AI is changing more than software</h2>Most people associate artificial intelligence with chatbots, image generators and digital assistants. But the technology is also reshaping global supply chains. As AI companies continue spending billions on infrastructure, competition for critical components such as memory chips is becoming more intense. That means the AI boom is no longer affecting only technology companies. It is beginning to influence the price people pay for the laptops, tablets and smartphones they use every day.

AI is changing more than just the software people use every day. It is also driving up the cost of the memory chips inside laptops and tablets, forcing Apple to increase prices for some MacBook and iPad models. Here's why it is happening and what it could mean for future devices.

Artificial intelligence is making computers smarter. It is also making them more expensive. Apple recently increased prices for several MacBook and iPad models after memory costs surged, highlighting a growing problem across the technology industry. The company says demand for memory chips has risen so quickly that it has become difficult for consumer electronics makers to secure enough supply at reasonable prices. The shortage is largely being driven by AI companies building massive data centres to train and run increasingly powerful artificial intelligence models. Why AI needs so much memory Every AI model relies on enormous amounts of high-speed memory. Whether it is ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or other large AI systems, they all run on servers packed with advanced processors and memory chips. These chips temporarily store huge amounts of data while AI models process requests. As companies race to build larger AI systems, demand for memory has climbed sharply. Technology firms including Google, OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta are investing billions of dollars in AI infrastructure. That has increased competition for memory chips that are also used in consumer products such as laptops, tablets and smartphones. Why Apple is paying more Apple does not manufacture its own memory chips. Instead, it buys DRAM and NAND flash memory from suppliers such as Samsung, SK hynix and Micron. As AI companies place larger and more profitable orders, suppliers have shifted more production towards AI-focused hardware. That has tightened supply for consumer electronics manufacturers. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently described the situation as unlike anything he has seen during his decades in the technology industry. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Cook compared the current memory market to a "hundred-year flood" and said suppliers were passing on significant price increases because demand had outpaced available supply. According to Apple, the increase became large enough that the company had to raise prices on selected MacBook and iPad models. Why memory makers are prioritising AI The memory industry has changed dramatically over the past two years. During the slowdown in 2023, manufacturers cut investment after profits fell sharply. Now, demand has returned but from a different source. Instead of smartphones and personal computers, AI servers have become the biggest buyers of advanced memory. These customers are often willing to pay more than traditional consumer electronics companies because memory is essential for training and running AI models. That has encouraged suppliers to prioritise AI-related production, further reducing available supply for consumer devices. Could iPhones become more expensive? Apple has not announced price increases for iPhones. However, industry analysts believe the same market pressures could eventually affect other products if memory prices remain elevated. Much will depend on whether memory manufacturers expand production quickly enough to meet growing AI demand while maintaining supply for consumer electronics. For now, Apple says it hopes pricing and supply return to more normal levels. AI is changing more than software Most people associate artificial intelligence with chatbots, image generators and digital assistants. But the technology is also reshaping global supply chains. As AI companies continue spending billions on infrastructure, competition for critical components such as memory chips is becoming more intense. That means the AI boom is no longer affecting only technology companies. It is beginning to influence the price people pay for the laptops, tablets and smartphones they use every day.

AI is changing more than just the software people use every day. It is also driving up the cost of the memory chips inside laptops and tablets, forcing Apple to increase prices for some MacBook and iPad models. Here's why it is happening and what it could mean for future devices.

AI is making your next MacBook more expensive. Here's why

“Artificial Intelligence will cure diseases”. This is among the many AI-washing tropes being peddled by several AI evangelists and AI firms readying for stock market debuts. The situation is reminiscent of the startup boom of the mid-2010s, when every company was talking about “making the world a better place”. The world is certainly not a better place in 2026, and neither is AI going to cure diseases; doctors will. The current AI hype is allowing firms to cut jobs in the name of AI-mediated cost efficiencies and push products as 'AI-powered' when hardly any significant AI is involved. Welcome to the era of AI washing.<h2>AI washing: Definition, forms, and examples across industries</h2>AI washing is the exaggeration, misrepresentation, or false portrayal of artificial intelligence capabilities, adoption, or impact. The aim is to capitalise on investor interest, consumer demand, or media attention. This is similar to 'greenwashing', where products and services are promoted as sustainable and environmentally friendly when they are not. In AI washing, the actual AI component is limited, unproven, or entirely absent.<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/ai-threatens-1-in-4-jobs-worldwide-as-automation-wave-accelerates-1780304478610/embed">https://www.wionews.com/videos/ai-threatens-1-in-4-jobs-worldwide-as-automation-wave-accelerates-1780304478610/embed</a><h2>'AI can cure diseases': The claims versus reality in healthcare and medicine</h2>AI evangelists often claim that AI can work miracles in healthcare and medicine: revolutionary advances in diagnostics, the elimination of human medical errors, and fully personalised medicine driven by AI. While AI did achieve some genuine advances, the most ambitious claims remain far ahead of real-world outcomes.IBM Watson Health was promoted as a transformative AI platform capable of assisting with cancer diagnosis and treatment decisions. However, investigations found that many recommendations were based on hypothetical or limited datasets rather than extensive real-world clinical evidence. Several hospitals scaled back or discontinued deployments, and IBM ultimately <a href="https://newsroom.ibm.com/2022-01-21-Francisco-Partners-to-Acquire-IBMs-Healthcare-Data-and-Analytics-Assets">sold</a> major Watson Health assets in 2022. This is one of the most frequently <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/news/252512328/IBM-offloads-Watson-Health-business-data-analytics">cited examples </a>of AI or machine-learning hype exceeding practical clinical performance.Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/trending/ai-adoption-is-not-leading-to-a-job-apocalypse-or-saving-many-firms-real-money-make-haste-slowly-a-reality-check-1779961215697">AI adoption is not leading to a job apocalypse or saving many firms real money. Make haste slowly? A reality check</a>&nbsp;AI-driven drug discovery firms often advertise dramatic reductions in the time needed to develop medicines. Indeed, AI has helped identify drug candidates more quickly and improve research efficiency. Yet no major disease has been cured by AI, yet. The pharmaceutical development process - both for preventive vaccines and medicines - still requires extensive laboratory validation, animal testing, multiple phases of human clinical trials, and regulatory approval. AI can accelerate research, but it is not an autonomous medical innovator.Even in medical imaging, one of AI's genuine success stories, marketing often exceeds reality. AI systems can assist radiologists in identifying abnormalities in X-rays, CT scans, and mammograms, but most approved tools are decision-support systems rather than replacements for physicians. Human oversight remains essential because AI models can produce false positives, false negatives, and performance variations across patient populations.Headlines frequently suggest that AI can detect diseases earlier than doctors, eliminate diagnostic errors, or transform healthcare delivery. In reality, successful implementations are generally narrow, specialised, and heavily supervised by healthcare professionals.Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/trending/delighted-to-be-wrong-sam-altman-says-ai-may-not-trigger-feared-white-collar-job-apocalypse-1779801560534">‘Delighted to be wrong’: Sam Altman says AI may not trigger feared white-collar job apocalypse</a><h2>AI as an excuse for layoffs: Cost-cutting, or paying for servers from people's salaries?</h2>AI washing is extensively used to justify the ongoing large-scale workforce reductions, particularly in the technology sector. Companies frequently cite "AI-driven efficiencies" or productivity gains when announcing layoffs. In reality, the primary drivers are often traditional cost-cutting measures, post-pandemic hiring corrections, and efforts to fund expensive AI infrastructure investments such as servers, GPUs, and data centres.Technology firms have invested tens of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure, including specialised chips, power plants, and massive data centres. References to AI efficiencies often serve as a narrative that makes layoffs appear strategic, logical, and innovative. In many cases, however, the underlying motivation is financial. It is about keeping the bottom line in the green. The only cash outflow that many companies can control is the salaries of their employees. And that's where the axe falls, ofen explained out as ‘AI efficiency’.Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/zoho-founder-sridhar-vembu-says-ai-giving-no-gains-tech-firms-firing-workers-for-no-real-reason-1779898670475">Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu says AI giving no gains, tech firms firing workers for no real reason</a><h2>False marketing of 'AI products': human labour disguised as AI</h2>AI washing also occurs when products marketed as autonomous AI systems rely heavily on hidden human labour. A notable example is Amazon's Just Walk Out technology, which was promoted as an AI-powered cashierless shopping experience. Reports later revealed that around 1,000 workers in India were involved in reviewing transactions and validating purchases. According to reports, approximately 700 out of every 1,000 transactions required some level of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-just-walk-out-actually-1-000-people-in-india-2024-4">human review.</a> The case became a prominent <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/amazon-ends-ai-powered-store-checkout-which-needed-1000-video-reviewers/">example </a>of human labour being obscured behind AI branding.<h2>Rebranding existing technology as AI: Another form of AI washing</h2>Increasingly, companies are rebranding and repositioning traditional software, automation systems, or statistical models as AI products. Rule-based systems, recommendation engines, and simple algorithms are frequently marketed as "AI-powered" despite using technologies that predate modern machine learning and large language models (LLMs).Many startups simply wrap existing LLMs such as ChatGPT with minimal modifications and market the resulting products and services as proprietary AI innovations. In some cases, the underlying technology is largely unchanged from the third-party model on which it depends.<h2>Fake or false AI branding of FMCG products</h2>A wide range of consumer products, from electronics to household appliances, are now marketed as AI-driven or AI-powered. Refrigerators, washing machines, robot vacuums, beauty devices, air purifiers, smart home appliances, spectacles, and watches are among the products sold as AI-enabled.The underlying functionality often consists primarily of sensors, pattern recognition, or predefined optimisation rules, many of which predate the current AI boom.Samsung's Bespoke AI appliance range, LG's AI DD washing machines, and numerous robot vacuum manufacturers advertise features such as "AI navigation". Some of these products do contain useful automation and machine-learning capabilities. However, the AI involved is frequently more limited or rudimentary than what marketing materials suggest.&nbsp;<h2>Regulators are slowly catching up with AI washing</h2>Slowly but surely, &nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/eight-legal-questions-your-ai-company--pracin-2026-06-05/">regulatory action</a> is catching up on misleading AI claims as a material disclosure issue rather than mere marketing exaggeration. In March 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) <a href="https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024-36">charged</a> investment advisers Delphia (USA) Inc and Global Predictions Inc with making misleading statements about their AI capabilities, resulting in civil penalties totalling US$400,000. The SEC found that these companies overstated or falsely represented the extent of their AI-driven services.&nbsp;AI washing will continue unless the whip cracks harder on false or fake AI claims. Till then, the world will not be a better place.&nbsp;

AI washing is spreading. Fake claims, half-truths, and misleading marketing across healthcare, tech and consumer products are exaggerating AI capabilities. Layoffs are being justified as AI-driven efficiencies. Where is the truth in all this?

“Artificial Intelligence will cure diseases”. This is among the many AI-washing tropes being peddled by several AI evangelists and AI firms readying for stock market debuts. The situation is reminiscent of the startup boom of the mid-2010s, when every company was talking about “making the world a better place”. The world is certainly not a better place in 2026, and neither is AI going to cure diseases; doctors will. The current AI hype is allowing firms to cut jobs in the name of AI-mediated cost efficiencies and push products as 'AI-powered' when hardly any significant AI is involved. Welcome to the era of AI washing. AI washing: Definition, forms, and examples across industries AI washing is the exaggeration, misrepresentation, or false portrayal of artificial intelligence capabilities, adoption, or impact. The aim is to capitalise on investor interest, consumer demand, or media attention. This is similar to 'greenwashing', where products and services are promoted as sustainable and environmentally friendly when they are not. In AI washing, the actual AI component is limited, unproven, or entirely absent. https://www.wionews.com/videos/ai-threatens-1-in-4-jobs-worldwide-as-automation-wave-accelerates-1780304478610/embed 'AI can cure diseases': The claims versus reality in healthcare and medicine AI evangelists often claim that AI can work miracles in healthcare and medicine: revolutionary advances in diagnostics, the elimination of human medical errors, and fully personalised medicine driven by AI. While AI did achieve some genuine advances, the most ambitious claims remain far ahead of real-world outcomes. IBM Watson Health was promoted as a transformative AI platform capable of assisting with cancer diagnosis and treatment decisions. However, investigations found that many recommendations were based on hypothetical or limited datasets rather than extensive real-world clinical evidence. Several hospitals scaled back or discontinued deployments, and IBM ultimately sold major Watson Health assets in 2022. This is one of the most frequently cited examples of AI or machine-learning hype exceeding practical clinical performance. Also read: AI adoption is not leading to a job apocalypse or saving many firms real money. Make haste slowly? A reality check AI-driven drug discovery firms often advertise dramatic reductions in the time needed to develop medicines. Indeed, AI has helped identify drug candidates more quickly and improve research efficiency. Yet no major disease has been cured by AI, yet. The pharmaceutical development process - both for preventive vaccines and medicines - still requires extensive laboratory validation, animal testing, multiple phases of human clinical trials, and regulatory approval. AI can accelerate research, but it is not an autonomous medical innovator. Even in medical imaging, one of AI's genuine success stories, marketing often exceeds reality. AI systems can assist radiologists in identifying abnormalities in X-rays, CT scans, and mammograms, but most approved tools are decision-support systems rather than replacements for physicians. Human oversight remains essential because AI models can produce false positives, false negatives, and performance variations across patient populations. Headlines frequently suggest that AI can detect diseases earlier than doctors, eliminate diagnostic errors, or transform healthcare delivery. In reality, successful implementations are generally narrow, specialised, and heavily supervised by healthcare professionals. Also read: ‘Delighted to be wrong’: Sam Altman says AI may not trigger feared white-collar job apocalypse AI as an excuse for layoffs: Cost-cutting, or paying for servers from people's salaries? AI washing is extensively used to justify the ongoing large-scale workforce reductions, particularly in the technology sector. Companies frequently cite "AI-driven efficiencies" or productivity gains when announcing layoffs. In reality, the primary drivers are often traditional cost-cutting measures, post-pandemic hiring corrections, and efforts to fund expensive AI infrastructure investments such as servers, GPUs, and data centres. Technology firms have invested tens of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure, including specialised chips, power plants, and massive data centres. References to AI efficiencies often serve as a narrative that makes layoffs appear strategic, logical, and innovative. In many cases, however, the underlying motivation is financial. It is about keeping the bottom line in the green. The only cash outflow that many companies can control is the salaries of their employees. And that's where the axe falls, ofen explained out as ‘AI efficiency’. Also read: Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu says AI giving no gains, tech firms firing workers for no real reason False marketing of 'AI products': human labour disguised as AI AI washing also occurs when products marketed as autonomous AI systems rely heavily on hidden human labour. A notable example is Amazon's Just Walk Out technology, which was promoted as an AI-powered cashierless shopping experience. Reports later revealed that around 1,000 workers in India were involved in reviewing transactions and validating purchases. According to reports, approximately 700 out of every 1,000 transactions required some level of human review. The case became a prominent example of human labour being obscured behind AI branding. Rebranding existing technology as AI: Another form of AI washing Increasingly, companies are rebranding and repositioning traditional software, automation systems, or statistical models as AI products. Rule-based systems, recommendation engines, and simple algorithms are frequently marketed as "AI-powered" despite using technologies that predate modern machine learning and large language models (LLMs). Many startups simply wrap existing LLMs such as ChatGPT with minimal modifications and market the resulting products and services as proprietary AI innovations. In some cases, the underlying technology is largely unchanged from the third-party model on which it depends. Fake or false AI branding of FMCG products A wide range of consumer products, from electronics to household appliances, are now marketed as AI-driven or AI-powered. Refrigerators, washing machines, robot vacuums, beauty devices, air purifiers, smart home appliances, spectacles, and watches are among the products sold as AI-enabled. The underlying functionality often consists primarily of sensors, pattern recognition, or predefined optimisation rules, many of which predate the current AI boom. Samsung's Bespoke AI appliance range, LG's AI DD washing machines, and numerous robot vacuum manufacturers advertise features such as "AI navigation". Some of these products do contain useful automation and machine-learning capabilities. However, the AI involved is frequently more limited or rudimentary than what marketing materials suggest. Regulators are slowly catching up with AI washing Slowly but surely, regulatory action is catching up on misleading AI claims as a material disclosure issue rather than mere marketing exaggeration. In March 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged investment advisers Delphia (USA) Inc and Global Predictions Inc with making misleading statements about their AI capabilities, resulting in civil penalties totalling US$400,000. The SEC found that these companies overstated or falsely represented the extent of their AI-driven services. AI washing will continue unless the whip cracks harder on false or fake AI claims. Till then, the world will not be a better place.

AI washing is spreading. Fake claims, half-truths, and misleading marketing across healthcare, tech and consumer products are exaggerating AI capabilities. Layoffs are being justified as AI-driven efficiencies. Where is the truth in all this?

'AI Washing': Fake product claims, citing AI as cause of layoffs, and more. And no, AI won't cure diseases, doctors will

Leading content and technology powerhouse, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (‘Z’) has achieved a record network share of 20% (15+ India Urban) in week 24 of 2026, marking an all-time high performance for the company since ~8 years. The robust viewership gains are attributed to the company’s strong entertainment portfolio, amplified by phenomenal performance of the newly launched Unite8 Sports channels.&nbsp;&nbsp;Powered by the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026, Unite8 Sports has garnered new set of 60 million viewers, emerging as the second largest linear sports portfolio in the country. The LIVE sporting action, coupled with key programming initiatives including language-based commentary, special expert analysis and football content has enabled Unite8 Sports 2 to achieve the leadership position amongst all English sports channels in India. The company’s sports portfolio has also achieved a unique reach of over 300 million across its linear platforms, Zee 5 and social platforms since June 1, 2026. With this milestone, the company has firmly positioned itself as a compelling entertainment and sports destination across platforms.&nbsp;&nbsp;Speaking about the robust performance, Bavesh Janavlekar, Chief Business Officer, Unite8 Sports, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. said, “The overwhelming response to FIFA World Cup 2026 across our platforms marks a pivotal moment for us in our journey to build a compelling sports business. We are amping up our efforts with innovative programming initiatives to keep the audiences engaged even beyond the match window as the tournament enters the key stage. The strong audience engagement further reinforces our commitment to deliver premium global content to viewers at scale and transform the sports viewing ecosystem across the country.”&nbsp;&nbsp;The linear and digital platforms of the Company, Unite8 Sports and Zee 5 continue to witness robust viewership growth. The multi-platform strength has enabled viewers to engage seamlessly across screens, firmly positioning the company at the forefront of the entertainment and sports consumption landscape.&nbsp;

Zee Entertainment achieves a record 20% network share in Week 24 of 2026, driven by FIFA World Cup 2026. Unite8 Sports adds 60 million viewers, becomes India’s second-largest sports portfolio, and reaches over 300 million audiences across TV, digital, and social platforms

Leading content and technology powerhouse, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (‘Z’) has achieved a record network share of 20% (15+ India Urban) in week 24 of 2026, marking an all-time high performance for the company since ~8 years. The robust viewership gains are attributed to the company’s strong entertainment portfolio, amplified by phenomenal performance of the newly launched Unite8 Sports channels. Powered by the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2026, Unite8 Sports has garnered new set of 60 million viewers, emerging as the second largest linear sports portfolio in the country. The LIVE sporting action, coupled with key programming initiatives including language-based commentary, special expert analysis and football content has enabled Unite8 Sports 2 to achieve the leadership position amongst all English sports channels in India. The company’s sports portfolio has also achieved a unique reach of over 300 million across its linear platforms, Zee 5 and social platforms since June 1, 2026. With this milestone, the company has firmly positioned itself as a compelling entertainment and sports destination across platforms. Speaking about the robust performance, Bavesh Janavlekar, Chief Business Officer, Unite8 Sports, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. said, “The overwhelming response to FIFA World Cup 2026 across our platforms marks a pivotal moment for us in our journey to build a compelling sports business. We are amping up our efforts with innovative programming initiatives to keep the audiences engaged even beyond the match window as the tournament enters the key stage. The strong audience engagement further reinforces our commitment to deliver premium global content to viewers at scale and transform the sports viewing ecosystem across the country.” The linear and digital platforms of the Company, Unite8 Sports and Zee 5 continue to witness robust viewership growth. The multi-platform strength has enabled viewers to engage seamlessly across screens, firmly positioning the company at the forefront of the entertainment and sports consumption landscape.

Zee Entertainment records a historic 20% network share, powered by FIFA World Cup 2026, as Unite8 Sports adds 60 million viewers

Zee Entertainment hits record 20% network share, reaches new milestone with 300 million sports audience across platforms

The race to succeed Jamie Dimon has entered a new chapter. JPMorgan Chase has promoted senior executives Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh to co-presidents after the unexpected departure of Marianne Lake from the succession race. The appointments give both executives greater responsibility over the bank's biggest businesses and position them as the leading internal candidates to eventually replace Dimon. The leadership changes are among the most closely watched on Wall Street because Dimon has led JPMorgan since 2006, turning it into the world's most valuable bank by market capitalisation.<h2>Why JPMorgan made the leadership changes</h2>Under the new structure, Doug Petno will become the sole Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan's Commercial &amp; Investment Bank (CIB), while Troy Rohrbaugh will become Chief Executive Officer of Consumer &amp; Community Banking (CCB), one of the bank's largest businesses.The two executives will also serve together as co-presidents of JPMorgan. In a statement, Jamie Dimon described the appointments as an important step in the board's long-term succession planning process. The move follows the departure of Marianne Lake, who had spent years being viewed by investors and analysts as one of the strongest internal candidates to succeed Dimon.<h2>Who is Doug Petno?</h2>Doug Petno is one of JPMorgan's longest-serving senior executives. He joined the bank more than three decades ago and built his career across commercial banking, corporate lending and investment banking. Petno has played a major role in expanding JPMorgan's commercial banking business, helping serve companies ranging from middle-market businesses to multinational corporations. Before the latest promotion, he shared responsibility for leading the Commercial &amp; Investment Bank alongside Troy Rohrbaugh. He is widely regarded inside the company as an experienced operator with deep relationships across corporate banking and institutional finance.<h2>Who is Troy Rohrbaugh?</h2>Troy Rohrbaugh has built his reputation in investment banking and global markets. He previously led JPMorgan's Markets and Securities Services businesses before becoming co-head of the Commercial &amp; Investment Bank. Rohrbaugh is known for overseeing some of the bank's largest trading, capital markets and institutional client operations. Under the latest leadership changes, he will now lead Consumer &amp; Community Banking, one of JPMorgan's most important divisions serving millions of retail customers across the United States. The appointment gives him direct experience running a major consumer banking franchise an area often considered essential for any future CEO.<h2>Why Marianne Lake's exit matters</h2>Marianne Lake's departure has significantly reshaped the succession race. A former Chief Financial Officer, Lake had long been viewed as one of Wall Street's leading candidates to replace Dimon because of her experience across finance, strategy and consumer banking. Her exit effectively narrows the list of internal contenders and gives Petno and Rohrbaugh an opportunity to demonstrate their leadership across two of JPMorgan's biggest businesses.&nbsp;Jamie Dimon has repeatedly said succession planning remains one of the board's highest priorities, even though he continues to lead the bank. The promotions suggest JPMorgan is entering the final stage of preparing for leadership after Dimon. Who ultimately becomes the next CEO will likely depend on how successfully Petno and Rohrbaugh manage their expanded responsibilities over the coming years. For investors, employees and Wall Street, the competition is about more than replacing one executive. It is about ensuring that the world's largest bank by market value maintains the stability, profitability and strategic direction that defined the Dimon era.

JPMorgan has promoted Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh to co-presidents after Marianne Lake's departure from the succession race. The leadership overhaul positions both executives as leading candidates to eventually replace Jamie Dimon as CEO of the banking giant.

The race to succeed Jamie Dimon has entered a new chapter. JPMorgan Chase has promoted senior executives Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh to co-presidents after the unexpected departure of Marianne Lake from the succession race. The appointments give both executives greater responsibility over the bank's biggest businesses and position them as the leading internal candidates to eventually replace Dimon. The leadership changes are among the most closely watched on Wall Street because Dimon has led JPMorgan since 2006, turning it into the world's most valuable bank by market capitalisation. Why JPMorgan made the leadership changes Under the new structure, Doug Petno will become the sole Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan's Commercial & Investment Bank (CIB), while Troy Rohrbaugh will become Chief Executive Officer of Consumer & Community Banking (CCB), one of the bank's largest businesses. The two executives will also serve together as co-presidents of JPMorgan. In a statement, Jamie Dimon described the appointments as an important step in the board's long-term succession planning process. The move follows the departure of Marianne Lake, who had spent years being viewed by investors and analysts as one of the strongest internal candidates to succeed Dimon. Who is Doug Petno? Doug Petno is one of JPMorgan's longest-serving senior executives. He joined the bank more than three decades ago and built his career across commercial banking, corporate lending and investment banking. Petno has played a major role in expanding JPMorgan's commercial banking business, helping serve companies ranging from middle-market businesses to multinational corporations. Before the latest promotion, he shared responsibility for leading the Commercial & Investment Bank alongside Troy Rohrbaugh. He is widely regarded inside the company as an experienced operator with deep relationships across corporate banking and institutional finance. Who is Troy Rohrbaugh? Troy Rohrbaugh has built his reputation in investment banking and global markets. He previously led JPMorgan's Markets and Securities Services businesses before becoming co-head of the Commercial & Investment Bank. Rohrbaugh is known for overseeing some of the bank's largest trading, capital markets and institutional client operations. Under the latest leadership changes, he will now lead Consumer & Community Banking, one of JPMorgan's most important divisions serving millions of retail customers across the United States. The appointment gives him direct experience running a major consumer banking franchise an area often considered essential for any future CEO. Why Marianne Lake's exit matters Marianne Lake's departure has significantly reshaped the succession race. A former Chief Financial Officer, Lake had long been viewed as one of Wall Street's leading candidates to replace Dimon because of her experience across finance, strategy and consumer banking. Her exit effectively narrows the list of internal contenders and gives Petno and Rohrbaugh an opportunity to demonstrate their leadership across two of JPMorgan's biggest businesses. Jamie Dimon has repeatedly said succession planning remains one of the board's highest priorities, even though he continues to lead the bank. The promotions suggest JPMorgan is entering the final stage of preparing for leadership after Dimon. Who ultimately becomes the next CEO will likely depend on how successfully Petno and Rohrbaugh manage their expanded responsibilities over the coming years. For investors, employees and Wall Street, the competition is about more than replacing one executive. It is about ensuring that the world's largest bank by market value maintains the stability, profitability and strategic direction that defined the Dimon era.

JPMorgan has promoted Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh to co-presidents after Marianne Lake's departure from the succession race. The leadership overhaul positions both executives as leading candidates to eventually replace Jamie Dimon as CEO of the banking giant.

Jamie Dimon's successor race enters final phase: Who are JPMorgan's new co-presidents Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh?

US e-commerce giant Amazon announced on Thursday that it would invest a total of $48 billion in India from 2026 to 2030 to expand and support its businesses, as its CEO Andy Jassy met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.&nbsp;Reiterating Amazon’s long-term commitment to India, Jassy also announced plans to invest an additional $13 billion to expand AI and cloud infrastructure in the country by 2030.&nbsp;This takes Amazon’s total planned investment in expanding and supporting AI and cloud infrastructure to over $21 billion between 2026 and 2030 (part of the $48 billion total investment), establishing it as one of the largest global AI and cloud infrastructure investors in the country.&nbsp;The investment will expand AWS data centre capacity in Mumbai and Hyderabad, giving startups, enterprises and government organisations access to custom AI chips, managed AI services, secure and reliable cloud technologies and developer tools to innovate faster, scale rapidly, and serve customers globally.&nbsp;Amazon’s cumulative investments in India from 2010 to 2030 stand at over $88 billion.&nbsp;Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/164-dead-around-1-000-injured-after-powerful-quakes-aftershocks-rock-venezuela-1782384631734">164 dead, around 1,000 injured after powerful quakes, aftershocks rock Venezuela; toll likely to rise further</a><h2>CEO Andy Jassy praises PM Narendra Modi’s vision&nbsp;</h2>&nbsp;“The Prime Minister’s vision for the last 12 years is just remarkable. You can see it in the development of the country and how important the country is in almost every aspect around the world,” said Jassy.The Amazon CEO further stated that since 2010, the tech company has invested $40 billion into India, and an additional $35 billion investment was announced last year.&nbsp;“We just announced today that we’re going to increase that amount from $35 billion to an incremental $48 billion of investment between 2026 and 2030,” said Jassy.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Really enjoyed my meeting with Prime Minister <a href="https://x.com/narendramodi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@narendramodi</a> about what’s ahead for Amazon in India. We’ve been serving customers, sellers, developers, startups, and enterprises in India for more than a decade and just getting started. Shared that we’re investing $48 billion… <a href="https://t.co/CSiwPTiEBh">pic.twitter.com/CSiwPTiEBh</a>&mdash; Andy Jassy (@ajassy) <a href="https://x.com/ajassy/status/2070056379675754958?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/venezuela-thanks-pm-modi-assistance-caracas-earthquakes-1782383090265">'Spirit of cooperation' :Venezuela thanks PM Modi for offering assistance after deadly Caracas earthquakes</a> “We came to India over a decade ago and have since been serving customers, sellers, developers, start-ups and enterprises through our different businesses. The response has been tremendous, with strong growth especially across our ecommerce, AI, and cloud businesses,” said Jassy. “We are investing over $48 billion in the coming five years to meet the strong demand across our business in India and to help the country achieve these priorities. We are inspired by Prime Minister Modi’s vision of a Viksit and Atmanirbhar Bharat, and we are committed to being a long-term partner in India’s growth story,” he added. “India is becoming such a significant cloud and AI hub around the world, and we have so much demand here that we’re continuing to invest in the country on the cloud side and the AI side as well,” Jassy said, adding that the investment would also bring long-term employment and economic metrics to the country. Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/uk-records-its-hottest-june-day-beating-1957-and-1976-highs-who-warns-of-risk-to-lives-1782322982631">UK records its hottest June day, beating 1957 and 1976 highs; WHO warns of risk to lives</a> Hailing the investment announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Amazon’s additional $13 billion investment shows a growing interest in the world to invest in India. “A great meeting with Mr. Andy Jassy. I welcome Amazon’s record $48 billion investment in India. This will create new opportunities for our youth. At the same time, it shows the growing interest across the world to invest in India,” the Prime Minister posted on X. <h2>‘Amazon’s India business is on a strong growth trajectory’</h2> Jassy also remarked that Amazon’s India business is on a strong growth trajectory with strong customer demand, especially in its e-commerce and AWS business. Since its launch, Amazon has digitised 12 million small businesses in India, enabled over $20 billion in cumulative e-commerce exports, and supported 2.8 million jobs. It has also trained over 10 million Indians on cloud skills. The company has pledged to support 3.8 million jobs, $80 billion in cumulative exports, enabling AI benefits for 15 million small businesses, and AI education for 4 million government school students.

Amazon's investment will expand AWS data centre capacity in Mumbai and Hyderabad, giving startups, enterprises and government organisations access to custom AI chips, managed AI services, secure and reliable cloud technologies and developer tools to innovate faster and scale rapidly.

US e-commerce giant Amazon announced on Thursday that it would invest a total of $48 billion in India from 2026 to 2030 to expand and support its businesses, as its CEO Andy Jassy met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Reiterating Amazon’s long-term commitment to India, Jassy also announced plans to invest an additional $13 billion to expand AI and cloud infrastructure in the country by 2030. This takes Amazon’s total planned investment in expanding and supporting AI and cloud infrastructure to over $21 billion between 2026 and 2030 (part of the $48 billion total investment), establishing it as one of the largest global AI and cloud infrastructure investors in the country. The investment will expand AWS data centre capacity in Mumbai and Hyderabad, giving startups, enterprises and government organisations access to custom AI chips, managed AI services, secure and reliable cloud technologies and developer tools to innovate faster, scale rapidly, and serve customers globally. Amazon’s cumulative investments in India from 2010 to 2030 stand at over $88 billion. Also Read: 164 dead, around 1,000 injured after powerful quakes, aftershocks rock Venezuela; toll likely to rise further CEO Andy Jassy praises PM Narendra Modi’s vision “The Prime Minister’s vision for the last 12 years is just remarkable. You can see it in the development of the country and how important the country is in almost every aspect around the world,” said Jassy. The Amazon CEO further stated that since 2010, the tech company has invested $40 billion into India, and an additional $35 billion investment was announced last year. “We just announced today that we’re going to increase that amount from $35 billion to an incremental $48 billion of investment between 2026 and 2030,” said Jassy.

Amazon's investment will expand AWS data centre capacity in Mumbai and Hyderabad, giving startups, enterprises and government organisations access to custom AI chips, managed AI services, secure and reliable cloud technologies and developer tools to innovate faster and scale rapidly.

Amazon CEO meets PM Modi, says e-com giant to invest $48bn in India by 2030, expand AI, cloud infra

India’s booming hospitality sector is opening up exciting career opportunities across hotels, tourism, aviation, and luxury services. To succeed in this fast-evolving industry, students need future-ready education that blends practical learning, technology integration, and real-world industry exposure – an approach Chandigarh University Uttar Pradesh is actively championing.&nbsp;We have been witnessing a boom in India’s hospitality sector. From luxury hotels and international resorts to aviation, cruise tourism, event management, and global travel brands, the industry is expanding rapidly and creating new opportunities for skilled professionals. As customer expectations evolve, hospitality employers are increasingly seeking candidates who combine operational expertise with communication skills, creativity, leadership, and service excellence. But with this shift, hospitality education is also witnessing a change. Today’s students are looking beyond traditional classroom learning and seeking programmes that offer practical exposure, industry interaction, and future-ready training. Institutions that blend experiential learning with technology-driven education are becoming the preferred choice for aspiring hospitality professionals.Among the emerging names in hospitality education,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.culko.in/">Chandigarh University Uttar Pradesh</a> is building a strong reputation for offering a modern and industry-oriented learning ecosystem designed around the evolving needs of the global hospitality sector.&nbsp;<h3>Why Hospitality is Becoming a Future-Ready Career Choice</h3>&nbsp;Hospitality has steadily emerged as one of the most future-ready career options for students who enjoy working with people, managing experiences, and exploring dynamic work environments. The field opens doors to careers in hotel management, luxury services, tourism, aviation, event operations, cruise management, and even entrepreneurship. The industry also offers international exposure and long-term career growth opportunities for students with the right training and professional mindset.&nbsp;<h3>Building Industry-Ready Professionals Through Specialised Learning</h3>&nbsp;At the centre of this evolving landscape is the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.culko.in/hotel-management-and-tourism/bsc-hotel-and-hospitality-management.php?L_mx_Visit_Source=www.google.com/">B.Sc. Hospitality &amp; Hotel Management program</a> at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.culko.in/">Chandigarh University Uttar Pradesh</a>, designed to prepare students for real-world hospitality careers through a balanced focus on academics, operational expertise, and personality development.&nbsp;<h3>Why Industry-Aligned Hospitality Education Matters</h3>&nbsp;One of the defining features of modern hospitality education is industry alignment. Students today require exposure to real operational environments and evolving hospitality technologies from the beginning of their academic journey. Areas such as front office operations, food and beverage services, culinary management, housekeeping operations, customer relationship management, and hospitality software training have become essential parts of professional preparation.&nbsp;One of the defining features of modern hospitality education is strong industry alignment. Students today require exposure to real operational environments and evolving hospitality technologies from the very beginning of their academic journey. Recognising this need, Chandigarh University, Uttar Pradesh, integrates practical hospitality training with industry-focused learning across key areas such as front office operations, food and beverage services, culinary management, housekeeping operations, customer relationship management, and hospitality software training. This hands-on approach ensures students graduate with the professional readiness and practical expertise required to succeed in the fast-evolving hospitality sector.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>Integrating AI into Modern Hospitality Education</h3>&nbsp;Recognising this need, Chandigarh University, Uttar Pradesh, has developed an industry-oriented curriculum with 20 per cent AI integration, helping students understand how technology is reshaping hospitality operations and guest experiences across the globe.&nbsp;<h3>The Power of Practical Learning in Hospitality</h3>&nbsp;Practical learning also plays a major role in shaping hospitality professionals. Unlike many conventional programs that rely heavily on theoretical instruction, experiential learning helps students develop confidence, technical understanding, and service precision through hands-on exposure.&nbsp;Practical learning plays a major role in shaping hospitality professionals. Unlike many conventional programs that rely heavily on theoretical instruction, experiential learning helps students develop confidence, technical understanding, and service precision through hands-on exposure. Emphasising this practice-led approach, Chandigarh University, Uttar Pradesh focuses on immersive learning experiences that allow students to apply classroom concepts in real-world hospitality settings, helping them build the confidence, operational expertise, and service excellence required by the global hospitality industry.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>Experiential Training Through Advanced Hospitality Infrastructure</h3>&nbsp;Chandigarh University Uttar Pradesh places significant emphasis on experiential learning, with nearly 55 per cent practical exposure integrated into the program. Students gain hands-on training through advanced hospitality infrastructure, including training in kitchens, bakery and confectionery labs, food and beverage service labs, and live service simulations. Concepts such as “Farm to Plate” further encourage students to understand sustainability, food sourcing, and operational management in a real-world context.&nbsp;<h3>Industry Exposure: The Bridge Between Learning and Practice</h3>&nbsp;Industry exposure remains another crucial pillar of hospitality education. Internships, hotel visits, workshops, and guest interactions allow students to understand hospitality standards, guest engagement, and operational workflows while building professional confidence.&nbsp;Industry exposure remains another crucial pillar of hospitality education. Internships, hotel visits, workshops, and guest interactions allow students to understand hospitality standards, guest engagement, and operational workflows while building professional confidence. Strengthening this aspect of professional learning, Chandigarh University, Uttar Pradesh ensures students gain valuable industry exposure through experiential opportunities that connect academic learning with real-world hospitality practices, preparing them to confidently meet the expectations of the dynamic global hospitality sector.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>Connecting Students with Real-World Hospitality Standards</h3><h3>&nbsp;</h3>Chandigarh University Uttar Pradesh actively focuses on industry collaboration through internship opportunities with luxury hotels and resorts, interaction with hospitality professionals and chefs, and practical learning experiences aligned with industry expectations. Such exposure helps students become familiar with professional service environments early in their academic journey.&nbsp;<h3>Beyond Academics: Building Professional Personality and Leadership</h3>&nbsp;CU Uttar Pradesh places strong emphasis on holistic development beyond academics. In the hospitality sector, employees place emphasis on communication skills, leadership qualities, grooming standards, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities as much as technical knowledge. To support this, students receive personality development guidance, mock interview preparation, customer-centric grooming support, and leadership training aimed at improving overall employability.&nbsp;<h3>Specialised Learning That Adds Career Value</h3>&nbsp;Additionally, the learning experience extends into specialised and value-added areas such as Culinary Entrepreneurship, The World of Beverages, and The Art of Flower Arrangement. Capstone projects during the third and fourth years further encourage students to apply practical knowledge to industry-relevant challenges and develop problem-solving capabilities.&nbsp;<h3>Unlocking Global Career Opportunities in Hospitality</h3>&nbsp;One of the most exciting aspects of the hospitality industry is the global exposure it offers students. With the sector continuing to expand and evolve, professionally trained graduates are discovering opportunities across hotel and resort management, food and beverage operations, tourism, cruise lines, aviation services, guest relations, institutional hospitality, and hospitality entrepreneurship.&nbsp;And, just to ensure that you get the right start to your career, selecting the right institution is becoming increasingly important. Factors such as practical training exposure, industry collaboration, modern infrastructure, internships, faculty expertise, personality development support, and technology-enabled learning now play a defining role in career preparedness.&nbsp;One of the most exciting aspects of the hospitality industry is the global exposure it offers students. With the sector continuing to expand and evolve, professionally trained graduates are discovering opportunities across hotel and resort management, food and beverage operations, tourism, cruise lines, aviation services, guest relations, institutional hospitality, and hospitality entrepreneurship. To help students tap into these global career pathways, Chandigarh University, Uttar Pradesh equips learners with industry-relevant knowledge, practical expertise, and international exposure that align with evolving hospitality standards.&nbsp;And just to ensure students get the right start to their careers, selecting the right institution is becoming increasingly important. Factors such as practical training exposure, industry collaboration, modern infrastructure, internships, faculty expertise, personality development support, and technology-enabled learning now play a defining role in career preparedness. With a strong focus on these essential pillars, Chandigarh University, Uttar Pradesh offers a future-ready hospitality education ecosystem designed to prepare graduates for success in both domestic and global hospitality industries.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>Why Chandigarh University Uttar Pradesh Stands Out</h3>&nbsp;With its AI-integrated curriculum, experiential pedagogy, practical hospitality infrastructure, and strong industry-oriented approach,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.culko.in/">Chandigarh University Uttar Pradesh</a> is positioning itself as a future-focused destination for hospitality education in India. As the global hospitality sector continues to expand, institutions that combine innovation, practical learning, and professional development are likely to shape the next generation of hospitality leaders.&nbsp;(Disclaimer: This article is from the Brand Desk. User discretion is advised.)&nbsp;

Today’s students are looking beyond traditional classroom learning and seeking programs that offer practical exposure, industry interaction, and future-ready training.

India’s booming hospitality sector is opening up exciting career opportunities across hotels, tourism, aviation, and luxury services. To succeed in this fast-evolving industry, students need future-ready education that blends practical learning, technology integration, and real-world industry exposure – an approach Chandigarh University Uttar Pradesh is actively championing. We have been witnessing a boom in India’s hospitality sector. From luxury hotels and international resorts to aviation, cruise tourism, event management, and global travel brands, the industry is expanding rapidly and creating new opportunities for skilled professionals. As customer expectations evolve, hospitality employers are increasingly seeking candidates who combine operational expertise with communication skills, creativity, leadership, and service excellence. But with this shift, hospitality education is also witnessing a change. Today’s students are looking beyond traditional classroom learning and seeking programmes that offer practical exposure, industry interaction, and future-ready training. Institutions that blend experiential learning with technology-driven education are becoming the preferred choice for aspiring hospitality professionals. Among the emerging names in hospitality education, Chandigarh University Uttar Pradesh is building a strong reputation for offering a modern and industry-oriented learning ecosystem designed around the evolving needs of the global hospitality sector. Why Hospitality is Becoming a Future-Ready Career Choice Hospitality has steadily emerged as one of the most future-ready career options for students who enjoy working with people, managing experiences, and exploring dynamic work environments. The field opens doors to careers in hotel management, luxury services, tourism, aviation, event operations, cruise management, and even entrepreneurship. The industry also offers international exposure and long-term career growth opportunities for students with the right training and professional mindset. Building Industry-Ready Professionals Through Specialised Learning At the centre of this evolving landscape is the B.Sc. Hospitality & Hotel Management program at Chandigarh University Uttar Pradesh, designed to prepare students for real-world hospitality careers through a balanced focus on academics, operational expertise, and personality development. Why Industry-Aligned Hospitality Education Matters One of the defining features of modern hospitality education is industry alignment. Students today require exposure to real operational environments and evolving hospitality technologies from the beginning of their academic journey. Areas such as front office operations, food and beverage services, culinary management, housekeeping operations, customer relationship management, and hospitality software training have become essential parts of professional preparation. One of the defining features of modern hospitality education is strong industry alignment. Students today require exposure to real operational environments and evolving hospitality technologies from the very beginning of their academic journey. Recognising this need, Chandigarh University, Uttar Pradesh, integrates practical hospitality training with industry-focused learning across key areas such as front office operations, food and beverage services, culinary management, housekeeping operations, customer relationship management, and hospitality software training. This hands-on approach ensures students graduate with the professional readiness and practical expertise required to succeed in the fast-evolving hospitality sector. Integrating AI into Modern Hospitality Education Recognising this need, Chandigarh University, Uttar Pradesh, has developed an industry-oriented curriculum with 20 per cent AI integration, helping students understand how technology is reshaping hospitality operations and guest experiences across the globe. The Power of Practical Learning in Hospitality Practical learning also plays a major role in shaping hospitality professionals. Unlike many conventional programs that rely heavily on theoretical instruction, experiential learning helps students develop confidence, technical understanding, and service precision through hands-on exposure. Practical learning plays a major role in shaping hospitality professionals. Unlike many conventional programs that rely heavily on theoretical instruction, experiential learning helps students develop confidence, technical understanding, and service precision through hands-on exposure. Emphasising this practice-led approach, Chandigarh University, Uttar Pradesh focuses on immersive learning experiences that allow students to apply classroom concepts in real-world hospitality settings, helping them build the confidence, operational expertise, and service excellence required by the global hospitality industry. Experiential Training Through Advanced Hospitality Infrastructure Chandigarh University Uttar Pradesh places significant emphasis on experiential learning, with nearly 55 per cent practical exposure integrated into the program. Students gain hands-on training through advanced hospitality infrastructure, including training in kitchens, bakery and confectionery labs, food and beverage service labs, and live service simulations. Concepts such as “Farm to Plate” further encourage students to understand sustainability, food sourcing, and operational management in a real-world context. Industry Exposure: The Bridge Between Learning and Practice Industry exposure remains another crucial pillar of hospitality education. Internships, hotel visits, workshops, and guest interactions allow students to understand hospitality standards, guest engagement, and operational workflows while building professional confidence. Industry exposure remains another crucial pillar of hospitality education. Internships, hotel visits, workshops, and guest interactions allow students to understand hospitality standards, guest engagement, and operational workflows while building professional confidence. Strengthening this aspect of professional learning, Chandigarh University, Uttar Pradesh ensures students gain valuable industry exposure through experiential opportunities that connect academic learning with real-world hospitality practices, preparing them to confidently meet the expectations of the dynamic global hospitality sector. Connecting Students with Real-World Hospitality Standards Chandigarh University Uttar Pradesh actively focuses on industry collaboration through internship opportunities with luxury hotels and resorts, interaction with hospitality professionals and chefs, and practical learning experiences aligned with industry expectations. Such exposure helps students become familiar with professional service environments early in their academic journey. Beyond Academics: Building Professional Personality and Leadership CU Uttar Pradesh places strong emphasis on holistic development beyond academics. In the hospitality sector, employees place emphasis on communication skills, leadership qualities, grooming standards, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities as much as technical knowledge. To support this, students receive personality development guidance, mock interview preparation, customer-centric grooming support, and leadership training aimed at improving overall employability. Specialised Learning That Adds Career Value Additionally, the learning experience extends into specialised and value-added areas such as Culinary Entrepreneurship, The World of Beverages, and The Art of Flower Arrangement. Capstone projects during the third and fourth years further encourage students to apply practical knowledge to industry-relevant challenges and develop problem-solving capabilities. Unlocking Global Career Opportunities in Hospitality One of the most exciting aspects of the hospitality industry is the global exposure it offers students. With the sector continuing to expand and evolve, professionally trained graduates are discovering opportunities across hotel and resort management, food and beverage operations, tourism, cruise lines, aviation services, guest relations, institutional hospitality, and hospitality entrepreneurship. And, just to ensure that you get the right start to your career, selecting the right institution is becoming increasingly important. Factors such as practical training exposure, industry collaboration, modern infrastructure, internships, faculty expertise, personality development support, and technology-enabled learning now play a defining role in career preparedness. One of the most exciting aspects of the hospitality industry is the global exposure it offers students. With the sector continuing to expand and evolve, professionally trained graduates are discovering opportunities across hotel and resort management, food and beverage operations, tourism, cruise lines, aviation services, guest relations, institutional hospitality, and hospitality entrepreneurship. To help students tap into these global career pathways, Chandigarh University, Uttar Pradesh equips learners with industry-relevant knowledge, practical expertise, and international exposure that align with evolving hospitality standards. And just to ensure students get the right start to their careers, selecting the right institution is becoming increasingly important. Factors such as practical training exposure, industry collaboration, modern infrastructure, internships, faculty expertise, personality development support, and technology-enabled learning now play a defining role in career preparedness. With a strong focus on these essential pillars, Chandigarh University, Uttar Pradesh offers a future-ready hospitality education ecosystem designed to prepare graduates for success in both domestic and global hospitality industries. Why Chandigarh University Uttar Pradesh Stands Out With its AI-integrated curriculum, experiential pedagogy, practical hospitality infrastructure, and strong industry-oriented approach, Chandigarh University Uttar Pradesh is positioning itself as a future-focused destination for hospitality education in India. As the global hospitality sector continues to expand, institutions that combine innovation, practical learning, and professional development are likely to shape the next generation of hospitality leaders. (Disclaimer: This article is from the Brand Desk. User discretion is advised.)

Today’s students are looking beyond traditional classroom learning and seeking programs that offer practical exposure, industry interaction, and future-ready training.

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South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index fell approximately 9.99 per cent on June 23, as investors executed a major sell-off. This was the fifth-largest single-day percentage decline in history and the largest points shed ever in history at 910.71 pts. The sharp fall also triggered a 20 minute boursed wide trading halt after intraday loss breached the threshold. It was being termed as “Black Tuesday” in South Korea. The sharp sell-off had a ripple effect across nations. Japan's Nikkei closed 3.6 per cent lower, and Softbank tumbled by more than 10 per cent, while other benchmark indexes like the Nasdaq were down by over 2.20 per cent. The CSI 300, &nbsp;Hang Seng, Shanghai, and Taiex also showed a decline. The sharp selloff across Asia and the US triggered concerns about whether it was just a correction or the first crack in the AI rally.&nbsp;Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/zohran-mamdani-backed-candidates-defeat-establishment-democrats-primaries-1782286731898">Zohran Mamdani-backed candidates sweep establishment Democrats in key primaries</a><h2>From a controversial tax proposal to AI euphoria</h2>The high-flying Kospi fall was driven by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix, whose shares tumbled by 12.31 and 12.47 per cent respectively. These two account for more than half of the market capitalisation of the index. One section of the market attributes the drop to the controversial tax proposal on the unrealised gains. The drop follows a massive rally in the Asian market, as South Korea and Taiwan overtake the market capitalisation of the Indian stock market. The South Korean ruling Democratic Forum, on June 23, called for comprehensive taxation that would treat unrealised gains on stocks and real estate as taxable income, even before the asset is ever sold. They argued that treating unrealised gain as taxable income will reflect the real-time wealth expansion instead of the arbitrary timing of the sale. It had been the cause of a structural friction, a major double standard, as investors treat those stock market gains as unrealised income to avoid tax, while at the same time they use those unrealised gains as collateral to take out bank loans and secure hard liquidity. They used these loans to buy highly volatile, leveraged single-stock ETFs, doubling down on an already top-heavy market.While another section of the market analysts suggests that the AI rally has gone too fast and too far, without accounting for the uncertainty around the Iran war, it is a classic example of “irrational exuberance”. The market has developed a dangerous immunity to geopolitical headlines. They have started to treat conflict as the new normal, expecting it to be locked in a specific region. They are treating the chipmakers as bulletproof, but ignoring the financial reality of the cyclical nature of the AI infrastructure. This comes despite repeated red flags that the tech giants could not maintain their massive capex spending without seeing any profit. The Kospi recovered on June 24, 3.26 per cent, specifically owing to the massive 90 trillion won ($58.6 billion) share buyback program by Samsung Electronics.&nbsp;&nbsp;

South Korea's KOSPI plunged nearly 10% in its biggest-ever points loss, triggering a trading halt and sparking concerns over AI stock valuations, tax proposals, and global market stability.

South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index fell approximately 9.99 per cent on June 23, as investors executed a major sell-off. This was the fifth-largest single-day percentage decline in history and the largest points shed ever in history at 910.71 pts. The sharp fall also triggered a 20 minute boursed wide trading halt after intraday loss breached the threshold. It was being termed as “Black Tuesday” in South Korea. The sharp sell-off had a ripple effect across nations. Japan's Nikkei closed 3.6 per cent lower, and Softbank tumbled by more than 10 per cent, while other benchmark indexes like the Nasdaq were down by over 2.20 per cent. The CSI 300, Hang Seng, Shanghai, and Taiex also showed a decline. The sharp selloff across Asia and the US triggered concerns about whether it was just a correction or the first crack in the AI rally. Also Read: Zohran Mamdani-backed candidates sweep establishment Democrats in key primaries From a controversial tax proposal to AI euphoria The high-flying Kospi fall was driven by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix, whose shares tumbled by 12.31 and 12.47 per cent respectively. These two account for more than half of the market capitalisation of the index. One section of the market attributes the drop to the controversial tax proposal on the unrealised gains. The drop follows a massive rally in the Asian market, as South Korea and Taiwan overtake the market capitalisation of the Indian stock market. The South Korean ruling Democratic Forum, on June 23, called for comprehensive taxation that would treat unrealised gains on stocks and real estate as taxable income, even before the asset is ever sold. They argued that treating unrealised gain as taxable income will reflect the real-time wealth expansion instead of the arbitrary timing of the sale. It had been the cause of a structural friction, a major double standard, as investors treat those stock market gains as unrealised income to avoid tax, while at the same time they use those unrealised gains as collateral to take out bank loans and secure hard liquidity. They used these loans to buy highly volatile, leveraged single-stock ETFs, doubling down on an already top-heavy market. While another section of the market analysts suggests that the AI rally has gone too fast and too far, without accounting for the uncertainty around the Iran war, it is a classic example of “irrational exuberance”. The market has developed a dangerous immunity to geopolitical headlines. They have started to treat conflict as the new normal, expecting it to be locked in a specific region. They are treating the chipmakers as bulletproof, but ignoring the financial reality of the cyclical nature of the AI infrastructure. This comes despite repeated red flags that the tech giants could not maintain their massive capex spending without seeing any profit. The Kospi recovered on June 24, 3.26 per cent, specifically owing to the massive 90 trillion won ($58.6 billion) share buyback program by Samsung Electronics.

South Korea's KOSPI plunged nearly 10% in its biggest-ever points loss, triggering a trading halt and sparking concerns over AI stock valuations, tax proposals, and global market stability.

South Korea's 'Black Tuesday'- Why KOSPI suffered its worst-ever points decline

SpaceX sold $25 billion of investment-grade bonds on Tuesday to cut the interest burden that had helped finance Elon Musk's 2022 acquisition of X (then known as Twitter), along with the expensive loans and bonds issued by artificial intelligence (AI) lab xAI last year. Had these businesses remained separate, they would have paid an estimated $1.8 billion this year to service a combined debt burden of $17.5 billion. Following their integration into SpaceX, the company is expected to incur around $1.5 billion in annual interest payments on its first-ever $25 billion bond offering. Prior to SpaceX's landmark $75 billion IPO earlier this month, Elon Musk consolidated several of his ventures into a single conglomerate, a move that drew strong investor enthusiasm despite the group not yet being profitable. Musk has effectively used revenue after selling Starlink's satellite internet service and SpaceX's rocket contracts with the US government to assist large spending at xAI, which holds X. "To invest in this, you've essentially got to be a believer," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth. "You have to believe revenues are going to ramp significantly over the coming years." Investors have shown confidence in the demand for SpaceX's debt offering, which received up to $89 billion in orders. The strong appetite prompted the firm to secure lower borrowing costs during the sale process. The demand persisted even as SpaceX shares experienced volatility, losing roughly 25 per cent of their value over three trading sessions before recovering slightly on Tuesday. However, a SpaceX spokesperson didn't quickly respond to the ongoing development.&nbsp;Also read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/heavy-hitter-how-many-missiles-can-a-b-52-bomber-carry-at-once-1782285270342">Heavy hitter: How many missiles can a B-52 bomber carry at once?</a><h3>Competition with AI firms</h3>Securing accessibility of the investment-grade bond market was a significant move in funding xAI's efforts to compete with the AI firms such as Anthropic PBC and OpenAI. Previously, the company's higher-risk credit profile limited it to sell leveraged loans and high-yield or junk bonds, where debt is pricey. However, after SpaceX acquired xAI in February, winning investment-grade ratings from top credit graders, the company has unlocked access to the cheaper US high-grade bond market, providing SpaceX access to deeper pockets. "They are going to need more debt to fund their expansion," said Robert Schiffman, a senior credit analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. "If you're going to have a balance sheet with $80 to $100 billion plus of debt, you can't finance that in the junk market." The global push to build data centres and supporting infrastructure for the artificial intelligence boom is projected to require trillions of dollars in investment. To fund their AI expansion plans, highly profitable companies such as Nvidia and Amazon.com have increasingly tapped the corporate bond market, a trend expected to accelerate in the years ahead. In recent weeks, SpaceX, through xAI, has secured several multi-billion-dollar computing agreements with Anthropic, Google and AI startup Reflection, strengthening its AI-related revenue stream. However, according to public filings, xAI reported revenue of $3.2 billion last year while posting an operating loss of $6.4 billion. The company's annual losses have grown sharply from approximately $1.6 billion recorded in 2024.

The strong appetite prompted the firm to secure lower borrowing costs during the sale process. The demand persisted even as SpaceX shares experienced volatility, losing roughly 25 per cent of their value over three trading sessions before recovering slightly on Tuesday.

SpaceX sold $25 billion of investment-grade bonds on Tuesday to cut the interest burden that had helped finance Elon Musk's 2022 acquisition of X (then known as Twitter), along with the expensive loans and bonds issued by artificial intelligence (AI) lab xAI last year. Had these businesses remained separate, they would have paid an estimated $1.8 billion this year to service a combined debt burden of $17.5 billion. Following their integration into SpaceX, the company is expected to incur around $1.5 billion in annual interest payments on its first-ever $25 billion bond offering. Prior to SpaceX's landmark $75 billion IPO earlier this month, Elon Musk consolidated several of his ventures into a single conglomerate, a move that drew strong investor enthusiasm despite the group not yet being profitable. Musk has effectively used revenue after selling Starlink's satellite internet service and SpaceX's rocket contracts with the US government to assist large spending at xAI, which holds X. "To invest in this, you've essentially got to be a believer," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth. "You have to believe revenues are going to ramp significantly over the coming years." Investors have shown confidence in the demand for SpaceX's debt offering, which received up to $89 billion in orders. The strong appetite prompted the firm to secure lower borrowing costs during the sale process. The demand persisted even as SpaceX shares experienced volatility, losing roughly 25 per cent of their value over three trading sessions before recovering slightly on Tuesday. However, a SpaceX spokesperson didn't quickly respond to the ongoing development. Also read: Heavy hitter: How many missiles can a B-52 bomber carry at once? Competition with AI firms Securing accessibility of the investment-grade bond market was a significant move in funding xAI's efforts to compete with the AI firms such as Anthropic PBC and OpenAI. Previously, the company's higher-risk credit profile limited it to sell leveraged loans and high-yield or junk bonds, where debt is pricey. However, after SpaceX acquired xAI in February, winning investment-grade ratings from top credit graders, the company has unlocked access to the cheaper US high-grade bond market, providing SpaceX access to deeper pockets. "They are going to need more debt to fund their expansion," said Robert Schiffman, a senior credit analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. "If you're going to have a balance sheet with $80 to $100 billion plus of debt, you can't finance that in the junk market." The global push to build data centres and supporting infrastructure for the artificial intelligence boom is projected to require trillions of dollars in investment. To fund their AI expansion plans, highly profitable companies such as Nvidia and Amazon.com have increasingly tapped the corporate bond market, a trend expected to accelerate in the years ahead. In recent weeks, SpaceX, through xAI, has secured several multi-billion-dollar computing agreements with Anthropic, Google and AI startup Reflection, strengthening its AI-related revenue stream. However, according to public filings, xAI reported revenue of $3.2 billion last year while posting an operating loss of $6.4 billion. The company's annual losses have grown sharply from approximately $1.6 billion recorded in 2024.

The strong appetite prompted the firm to secure lower borrowing costs during the sale process. The demand persisted even as SpaceX shares experienced volatility, losing roughly 25 per cent of their value over three trading sessions before recovering slightly on Tuesday.

Elon Musk's SpaceX sells $25 bn in bond to ease X and xAI debt burden