Inside Ola Electric’s troubling financials; Fighting deepfakes with AI

Hello,

Are we seeing a hiring resurgence?

India’s non-metro cities, such as Udaipur, Vizag, Coimbatore, and Nagpur, have outpaced traditional tech firms in hiring for core software and IT firms during H1 2025, according to data from TeamLease. One of the reasons behind this shift is the competitive pressure from startups in Tier I cities.

Meanwhile, salary increments have become the talking point at some firms. 

TCS CFO Samir Seksaria said that delivering wage hikes to its 6 lakh employee base is a priority for the company, after it deferred them in April as its operating profit margin crimped. The IT giant reported a relatively slow growth of 6% in non-core income in Q1 due to macroeconomic conditions.

If there’s one industry where wage hikes are trending, it’s banking. 

Experienced relationship managers are landing salary hikes of as much as 40%, while newer wealth management firms are offering bankers 50% or more of the revenue they generate, according to a Bloomberg report. The race to hire comes as India becomes a global hotspot for wealth management.

This may sound like a dream job if you’re a 50-something employee in South Korea. The country’s ‘peak wage’ system lets employers reduce wages by as much as 50% in the years leading up to mandatory retirement 

Puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Ola Electric losses widen
• Fighting deepfakes with AI
• Vaccination against cervical cancer

Here’s your trivia for today: Which character did Walt Disney create in 1934 as a foil to Mickey Mouse?

Mobility

Ola Electric losses widen

Electric scooter maker Ola Electric’s loss has widened year-on-year for the quarter ended June 2025, as intensifying competition and a post-subsidy slowdown in the EV market have halved the company’s revenue. 

The company’s consolidated net loss widened to Rs 428 crore in the first quarter of FY26, compared with Rs 347 crore a year earlier.

Key takeaways:

• Meanwhile, the Bhavish Aggarwal-led firm managed to cut its losses sharply from the previous quarter, when it posted a loss of Rs 870 crore, reflecting improved cost control and early gains from its turnaround strategy.
• Ola’s Gen 3 models—launched to replace earlier variants—now make up 80% of sales, but the company continues to cede ground to rivals such as Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor, and Ather Energy.
• The company said it is banking on festive demand as well as EV industry growth to help achieve the ambitious sales target the company has set for FY26.

Startup

Fighting deepfakes with AI

Deepfakes—AI-generated video or audio designed to mimic real people—are fast becoming one of the most concerning offshoots of generative AI technology. From impersonation to tampering with legal evidence, spreading misinformation during elections, and causing financial fraud, the misuse of synthetic media poses serious risks to businesses, law enforcement, and civil society.

Confronting these emerging threats head-on is deeptech startup pi-labs. 

Spotting fakes:

• The startup offers a suite of advanced tools such as Authentify, pi-scout, and pi-sense, designed to tackle deepfakes, disinformation, and the overwhelming complexity of digital evidence. 
• Its technology stack caters to sectors, including law enforcement and intelligence agencies, as well as the enterprise sector, especially the BFSI segment.
• Despite formally launching in 2024 after a year in stealth, pi-labs is already conducting pilots in the Middle East and Africa, while increasing its sales through an exclusive partner-driven model in India.

Inspiration

Vaccination against cervical cancer

In June 2025, journalist and gender rights advocate Priyali Sur raised Rs 1.7 lakh in just 25 days—not through institutional funding or CSR grants, but through individual contributions, collective goodwill, and by quite literally going the distance for a cause that is both deeply personal to her and vital to the country’s gender rights movement: access to cervical cancer vaccines. 

The funds raised through her NGO, The Azadi Project, helped vaccinate girls from marginalised, displaced, and refugee communities across India.

News & updates

• Inflation: India’s consumer inflation continued to ease in June, hitting a lower-than-expected 2.10%, government data showed on Monday. The headline inflation rate extended its slide after dropping to a more than six-year low in May as growth in food prices continued to decline.
• Price surge: Bitcoin surpassed $120,000 for the first time on Monday, marking a milestone for the world’s largest cryptocurrency as investors bet on long-sought policy wins for the industry this week.
• Digital privacy: France, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Greece will test a blueprint for an age verification app to protect children online, the European Commission said on Monday, amid growing global concern about the impact of social media on children's mental health.

Which character did Walt Disney create in 1934 as a foil to Mickey Mouse?

Answer: Donald Duck.

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