Riders’ dilemma without bike taxis; Cashing in on rare earth magnet supply

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Building AI tools for India.

Ola’s AI venture, Krutrim, has acquired BharatSah’AI’yak, an AI-driven platform developed by Samagra, known for its work on government-facing solutions in education, agriculture, and governance. 

With this acquisition, the AI unicorn plans to integrate BharatSah’AI’yak into its LLMs, cloud infrastructure, and agentic platform Kruti, its newly launched AI assistant app. 

Speaking of India’s growing focus on technology, IT company Cognizant will establish an IT and ITES campus in Visakhapatnam at an investment of Rs 1,583 crore to generate 8,000 jobs in the next few years. 

Meanwhile, SoftBank is going all in on AI.

The Japanese investing conglomerate plans to team up with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company to launch a trillion-dollar industrial complex in Arizona, US, to build AI and robotics, according to Bloomberg.

Lastly, AI chatbots aren’t just changing how we write, but also our speech. 

In the 18 months after ChatGPT was released, speakers used words like “meticulous,” “delve,” “realm,” and “adept” up to 51% more frequently than in the three years prior, according to researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. 

To paraphrase Regina George’s iconic quote: “Stop trying to make delve happen! It's not going to happen!”

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Riders’ dilemma without bike taxis
• Cashing in on rare earth magnet supply
• The GaNgs of deeptech

Here’s your trivia for today: Which British hard rock band was once known as “The New Yardbirds”?

Mobility

Riders’ dilemma without bike taxis

From Monday this week, Gavisha Dhonsi, 28, has had to leave her home in Electronic City at around 7:30 AM to arrive at the office by 10 AM. This is because, on June 16, the Karnataka government upheld the ban on bike taxis in the state, forcing ride-hailing platforms like Ola, Uber, and Rapido to remove their bike taxi options. 

“Bangalore’s traffic is very hectic to be in. It is jam-packed on the road during rush hour. These bike taxis were the only saving grace because a lot of roads are under construction, and when you have to travel from one part of the city to another, bikes can squeeze through the traffic and run-down roads to help reach your destination faster,” she says. 

Not easy to travel:

• The Karnataka government has banned bike-taxis as they were deemed illegal under the Motor Vehicles Act. The state believes that private two-wheelers used for commercial rides fall outside the definition of transport vehicles. 
• With no clarity on when the ban will be lifted, commuters are left with comparatively expensive transportation modes, such as auto-rickshaws and cabs, as metro connectivity in the city is still being developed. 
• In a press release by the Namma Bike Taxi Association, multiple driver partners voiced their frustration and worries over the ban. “I have borrowed (money) twice already this month. My daughter’s school is asking for fees, and I have nothing left,” said 37-year-old Imran M (name changed). 

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In-depth

Cashing in on rare earth magnet supply

Over the years, commodities have been at the centre of several global conflicts. Cut to today, there is a whole new commodity redefining global geopolitics. Rare earth elements are used to make rare earth magnets—silver and grey metallic magnets that are used in everything from cars to smartphones to radar systems.

As of 2024, China controls over 85% of the global rare earth magnet production. Over the years, innovations, especially those such as electrification in automotives, were structured around rare earth magnets—a dependence that has led to many OEMs scratching their heads over possible alternatives today.

Innovating solutions:

• Conifer is developing rare-earth magnet-agnostic electric motors and power trains. This means the company can create motors and powertrains that do not use rare earth magnets to create equal or even higher power than their rare earth magnet counterparts. 
• Another company that clocked India’s dependence on China for rare earth magnetic components early was Sterling Gtake E-Mobility—the EV subsidiary of automotive component manufacturer Sterling Tools. This year, it partnered with Advanced Electric Machines to manufacture magnet-free traction motors for EVs in India. 
• Battery recycling companies like BatX and LOHUM are planning to utilise their existing processing facilities—which were used to extract critical minerals from lithium-ion batteries—for processing rare earth elements from consumer electronics and EV motors.

Startup

The GaNgs of deeptech

The rapid growth of critical technologies, including telecommunications, electric mobility, and energy-efficient lighting, requires high-power, high-frequency electronic systems. A promising solution is gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors, which can tolerate higher power density and can operate at higher voltages, and IISc-incubated startup AGNIT Semiconductors is paving the way by developing and manufacturing GaN-based semiconductors.

News & updates

• Robotaxis: Tesla has begun sending out invitations for its highly anticipated robotaxi service, but there’s one significant caveat: it’s installing a “safety monitor” in the front passenger seat. The invites say the human monitor will “accompany you on your trip” when rides begin on June 22nd—a move that’s at odds with Elon Musk’s promise of fully unsupervised rides.
• Shift: Coinbase has secured its Markets in Crypto Assets license from Luxembourg to offer crypto services across the EU and will make the country its central hub in the region. The US crypto exchange’s main European base has been in Ireland since 2023. 
• Partners: Meta has teamed up with Oakley to release AI-powered smart glasses, expanding its push into wearable tech after the success of Ray-Ban Meta glasses. It is expanding its partnership with Oakley and Ray-Ban-parent EssilorLuxottica amid growing consumer interest in AI-powered wearable devices.

Which British hard rock band was once known as “The New Yardbirds”?

Answer: Led Zeppelin.

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