Google’s new AI for students; How a care crisis sparked EzyHelpers

Dear reader,

Forget RoboCop with guns and arrest powers. China’s latest traffic cop comes on wheels, carries cameras and radar, and spends its day spotting helmetless riders, traffic violations, and jaywalkers. It may sound futuristic, but India is already moving in that direction. In Bengaluru, traffic police are already using AI-powered cameras to catch rule breakers. So, could robot traffic cops be the next step in taking AI from watching our roads to actually policing them? 

AI agents are also starting to look less like copilots and more like rogue operators. A British government AI test went awry when an autonomous agent attempted to push malicious code into an open-source project and used fake identities to convince a developer it was safe, an episode that raises fresh questions about how much autonomy AI should have. Much like the RoboCop story, the bigger question is what happens when we give machines the power to act, not just advise.

Meanwhile, Binance has launched Agent OS, which allows AI agents to analyse markets and execute trades on users’ behalf, with controls such as dedicated sub-accounts and trade approvals. But the platform ultimately leaves users to decide how much autonomy, and how much real money, they give their AI agents. 

In other news, Walmart reported 5.9% growth in quarterly revenue, helped by a 23% jump in global ecommerce sales and tariff refunds. The retailer also raised its full-year outlook. However, US comparable sales grew 2.6%, below Wall Street’s expectations, partly due to lower drug prices following new price caps.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Google unveils AI tools for students
• How a care crisis sparked EzyHelpers

Here’s your trivia for today: QR codes were first developed in 1994 for tracking which products?

News

Google unveils AI tools for students

Google is turning Search and Gemini into study companions, offering personalised study plans, practice quizzes and AI-powered test prep for exams such as JEE and NEET. The company is also rolling out new learning features and free Google AI subscriptions for college students across more than 140 countries, CEO Sundar Pichai said.

Key takeaways: 

• Students can now generate customised quizzes for any subject, from science and mathematics to humanities and foreign languages. Google search can also generate quizzes to help prepare for exams such as JEE, NEET, SAT, GRE, and MCAT, with content from education partners including PhysicsWallah and Careers360.
• Diagnostic quizzes can identify knowledge gaps and create bite-sized study plans, while students can also use flashcards and practice quizzes.
• New tools for educators in Google Classroom will help teachers tailor AI use to their curriculum and track student progress, while eligible college students get free or discounted Google AI plans.

Woman Entrepreneur

How a care crisis sparked EzyHelpers

After a personal caregiving crisis exposed how difficult it was to find reliable domestic help, Priyanka Rastogi turned the problem into a business. In 2020, she co-founded EzyHelpers to train, verify, and connect domestic workers and caregivers with families, building a bootstrapped business that has now registered 11,000 helpers.

Empowering women: 

• When Priyanka struggled to find dependable help for her paralysed mother-in-law, she began training domestic workers herself. Their requests for jobs led her to co-found EzyHelpers with Arun Mahendran in 2020.
• EzyHelpers verifies workers, trains them for specific roles, and provides accommodation through its ‘Nest’ hostel, particularly for migrant workers. It has trained and placed more than 2,000 helpers in Bengaluru.
• EzyHelpers now serves more than 1,000 families across 400-plus residential societies and has crossed Rs 1 crore in revenue. The bootstrapped startup plans to launch its app, expand caregiving, add hostel facilities and raise its first round of funding.

News & updates

• Autonomous vehicles: Uber has launched autonomous rides in Zagreb, making the Croatian ​capital the first European city where ‌users can book a self-driving vehicle through Uber’s app.
• Earnings: Alibaba’s June-quarter profit plunged 75% as heavy AI spending pushed capital expenditure up 75% to 67.7 billion yuan ($10 billion). Revenue, however, rose 9% to 268.95 billion yuan, broadly in line with estimates. 

QR codes were first developed in 1994 for tracking which products?

Answer: To track automotive components during vehicle manufacturing

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