Enterprise
Why is Amazon starting a $250 million venture fund in India?
Aims to bring 1 million offline stores online by 2025
Amazon has announced a US$ 250 million venture fund called Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund that’ll invest in small and medium-sized businesses. The goal is to boost India’s export by using technology and the marketplace’s reach.
Amazon Smbhav will be focusing on the digitization of small businesses, agri-tech innovations to raise farmer productivity, and health tech for quality universal healthcare. The fund was announced at Amazon India’s annual Smbhav Summit.
It intends to tap offline sellers and professionals via the fund and on onboarding a million shops by 2025. Another initiative is “Spotlight NorthEast,” which will bring 50,000 artisans, weavers, and small businesses online from India’s North-Eastern states. The region is known for its local produce like honey, tea, and spices.
The announcement came at a fireside chat at the summit between Andy Jassy, incoming CEO of Amazon and Amit Agarwal, Global Senior VP and Country Head, Amazon India. They also revealed the first bet Amazon was making through the new fund — invoice discounting platform M1xchange, in which it has led a $10 million investment.
Amazon said it created close to 300,000 jobs since January 2020 and one million in total. It also boasted of having almost 70,000 sellers, exporting Indian goods to other markets totaling US$ 3 billion in sales.
The timing of Amazon India’s announcement is key because the e-commerce companies have been barred from delivering in the state of Maharashtra amid a Coronavirus-led curfew. While the restrictions are regional, businesses are unable to get necessary and basic supplies. In a work-from-home world, getting an emergency mice/keyboard or mattress should be easy via digitization, but there are antitrust concerns.
Due to a lockdown, offline sellers cannot operate and thus, don’t want online businesses to eat their share. The Narendra Modi-led government has historically sided with the offline traders since they constitute a majority of India’s market. The offline market is still the king, and the gap between the two is very substantial.
If online players operate exclusively for too long, they’ll start gobbling up market share gradually, killing the smaller businesses. While the aim is to maintain a level-playing field, the current rules aren’t helping anybody at the end of the day. The region also fails to collect indirect taxes over the possible transactions, leading to a cash crunch while the pandemic rages.
The FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) rules for the retail market were changed in 2019, meaning Amazon India could no longer directly sell its products. It had to act like a marketplace to maintain healthy competition since 100 percent FDI is allowed in e-commerce as a tech platform, but not as a retailer.
Thanks to the fund, Amazon can show its commitment to India and its initiatives to encourage online trade. India’s new farm laws also make it easier for private companies to invest in agriculture or partner with farmers for contracts.
Amazon had announced an investment of US$1 billion in January 2020 and its purpose was also the same — digitizing India’s small and medium businesses. Founder Jeff Bezos had said back then, “We are doing this now because it is working. And when something works you should double down on it.”
For now, the concerns of a monopoly are diminished because Amazon is going up against India’s homegrown Flipkart, which Walmart now backs. Reliance is also eyeing this segment and has already kicked off a hyperlocal service called JioMart. Lastly, many other retailers like Dmart, Tata CliQ + Bigbasket, and Grofers are available.
Enterprise
AGIBOT just topped the medal table at the World Humanoid Robot Games
The robots that did it are already clocking in at real factories.
AGIBOT entered its first World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on August 26 and walked away with a dominant victory.
The company claimed 18 gold, 16 silver, and 12 bronze medals, securing 46 total podium finishes and topping both the gold and overall medal standings.
Designed to stress-test humanoid machines in sports, fine manipulation, and real-world duties, the Games evaluated robots across events ranging from martial arts to hotel service and emergency response.
AGIBOT swept through these categories, earning top spots in motion control, obstacle racing, and daily practical tasks.
The true triumph lies in what remained unchanged on competition day. AGIBOT fielded its standard production lineup, including the OmniHand, G2, A3, and X2.
None of these units were custom-built to win medals, as every machine came straight from active commercial deployments.
Precision and agility straight off the assembly line
The OmniHand reached the finals in all eight dexterous manipulation events and brought home seven gold medals.
It aced delicate challenges like Block Building, Powder Weighing, and Bean Picking with Tweezers, proving that fine motor control matters just as much as raw power.
In motion control, the AGIBOT X2 captured gold in the 100m obstacle race while adding silver and bronze in the 400m sprint.
Meanwhile, the AGIBOT A3 secured gold in Tai Chi. The X2 competed in its standard commercial configuration without any hardware modifications.
Powering the X2 is AGIBOT’s proprietary AGILE framework, short for AgiBot Generative Intelligent Locomotion Engine.
This system blends real-time environmental perception with autonomous decision-making to navigate sudden obstacles and changing terrain.
By combining precise parameter identification with seamless simulation-to-reality transfer, the framework maintains rock-solid stability when transitioning from code to physical ground.
Proven intelligence on actual factory floors
AGIBOT earned five golds in real-world scenarios, dominating tasks across library operations, hotel services, and emergency response.
The G2 robot behind these wins is the exact same model currently operating on factory floors for manufacturers like Longcheer and SAIC.
Its operational intelligence stems from AGIBOT’s ViLLA embodied foundation model GO, the world model GE, and its RW-RL system. These combined technologies sharpen perception and planning inside unpredictable work environments.
While the 46-medal tally commands headlines, the deeper story is that mass-produced robots won without special modifications.
AGIBOT proves that general-purpose intelligence paired with commercial hardware can adapt across varied scenarios. Embodied AI is finally stepping out of isolated lab demos and into consistent, repeatable work where it matters most.
Enterprise
Cebu Pacific becomes 1st SEA low-cost carrier with Starlink Wi-Fi
Rollout expected to begin in 2027
Cebu Pacific has introduced Starlink, making it the first low-cost airline in Southeast Asia to bring Wi-Fi in the sky for passengers.
The rollout is expected to begin in 2027. Starlink delivers an unparalleled broadband experience inflight, with high-speed, low-latency Wi-Fi capable of HD streaming, online gaming, productivity and more.
Beyond enhancing the passenger experience, Starlink will also support improved operational connectivity for Cebu Pacific’s flight crews and operational teams. This enables better operational efficiency.
The collaboration is a significant milestone for Philippine aviation. The rollout forms part of Cebu Pacific’s continued investment in customer experience and digital innovation.
As part of the partnership, Cebu Pacific and Indigo Partners portfolio airlines, Wizz Air, and JetSMART expect to install Starlink on over 1,000 aircraft.
Enterprise
Google ordered to pay EUR 4.1 billion in fines
The EU alleges that Google uses its apps to establish an unfair dominance.
European fines have unintentionally become a normal part of doing business in the American technology space. For too long have American companies paid paltry fines to prevent harsher regulation in the European Union. Now, for the first time, Google is about to pay a record-breaking fine that goes beyond “paltry.”
Today, via CNBC, Google has been ordered to pay an astonishing EUR 4.1 billion (or approximately US$ 4.67 billion) in fines. The fine is in response to an anti-competition case.
This has been a long time coming for Google. The original case started in 2018. At the time, the European Union accused the brand of using anti-competitive practices to ensure its dominance in the smartphone market. According to the courts, the company’s bundling of first-party apps for every Android smartphone gives them an unfair advantage in the market and lessens the user’s choice in selecting apps.
For years, Google has fought the fine to seemingly no avail. Now, the company has lost its final attempt, which means that the fine still stands. On the bright side, they did get it reduced from the original EUR 4.34 billion fine.
The European Union is the scourge of every American tech company (and a godsend to consumers). Most notably, the continent’s government forced Apple to adopt USB-C, leading to a more universal experience across brands.
Google’s hefty fine aims to do the same. And it is quite hefty. Whereas previous fines were in the millions (and hence, negligible for most companies), a fine in the billions is more tangible.
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