OpenAI’s monetary milestone; VC funding development in Q1

Hiya,

India is formally counting its individuals. 

Census 2027 kicked off within the nation on Wednesday. The sixteenth inhabitants depend in India—eighth since independence—might be held in two phases. The world’s largest train of its form takes a digital-first method involving a self-enumeration portal, a cell app, and an enormous taskforce of over 30 lakh officers. 

In different information, Apple has turned 50. 

The corporate has had a big impact on the tech trade—redefining private computing and cell communication, and making a dominant model within the course of. However the iPhone maker now finds itself ready the place it has to indicate it’s nonetheless a tech titan within the age of AI. 

Shifting on, Blinkit has introduced fast supply contained in the Mumbai airport. 

Travellers can order from over 2,500 merchandise on the Blinkit app, and the quick-commerce participant guarantees to ship them inside Terminal 2 (home departures). Orders might be fulfilled by a devoted staff of “walkers”, mentioned Albinder Dhindsa, CEO of Everlasting, which owns Blinkit. In the meantime, some netizens questioned if this was an April Fools’ Day prank. 

In the meantime, job openings for tech professionals in India are 8% decrease in April in comparison with March, says a report.

ICYMI: Lastly, a persona verify. Are you an everlasting optimist or do you all the time assume the worst? Do you see solely good in others or do you may have a cynical view of human nature? Your instinctive response to conditions can reveal way over you suppose. 

In immediately’s publication, we are going to discuss 

• OpenAI’s monetary milestone
• VC funding development in Q1

Right here’s your trivia for immediately: The place did the well-known phrase ‘You may’t deal with the reality’ originate?

Valuation

OpenAI’s monetary milestone

ChatGPT maker OpenAI has closed its newest funding spherical with $122 billion in dedicated capital at a post-money valuation of $852 billion. This vital monetary milestone is anticipated to assist the corporate velocity up the subsequent part of AI improvement.

The funding spherical was led by main expertise corporations and funding teams together with Amazon, NVIDIA, and SoftBank. Lengthy-term associate Microsoft additionally continued its participation. SoftBank co-led the spherical alongside a16z, D. E. Shaw Ventures, MGX, and TPG.

Forging forward: 

• OpenAI has been rising quickly since its inception. The ChatGPT maker was the quickest expertise platform to achieve 10 million customers after which 100 million customers. The corporate says it’s now on the trail to 1 billion weekly lively customers.
• “We are actually producing $2B in income per thirty days. At this stage, we’re rising income 4 instances sooner than the businesses who outlined the Web and cell eras, together with Alphabet and Meta,” mentioned OpenAI.
• OpenAI is creating a unified AI superapp which can mix ChatGPT, coding instruments, and net shopping right into a single expertise.

Quarterly report 

VC funding development in Q1

Enterprise capital (VC) funding in Indian startups rose 28% year-on-year throughout the first quarter of 2026, bolstered by a gradual influx of offers, regardless of a difficult macroeconomic setting.

The entire funding for the primary quarter—January to March 2026—was $3.2 billion from 315 offers. The quantity throughout the identical interval of 2025 was $2.5 billion from 312 offers, in response to YourStory Analysis.

Key takeaways: 

• VC funding for the primary quarter of 2026 noticed a rise regardless of the absence of many massive offers.There have been simply seven offers with a deal worth of above $50 million. 
• Throughout the first quarter, there have been a sizeable variety of transactions within the $30 million-90 million vary. This lifted the general momentum of VC funding throughout the interval.
• The AI section raised the best quantity throughout the quarter. Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Delhi-NCR dominated the funding scene. 

Information & updates

• New launch: Google has launched Veo 3.1 Lite, its most cost-effective video technology mannequin, in paid preview by means of the Gemini API and Google AI Studio. The mannequin is aimed toward builders who have to make video technology sooner and cheaper at scale. 
• Oil provide: The oil provide crunch will worsen this month, the top of the Worldwide Vitality Company has warned. “The lack of oil in April might be twice the lack of oil in March,” mentioned IEA Chief Fatih Birol, in a podcast. 
• Job cuts: US tech firm Oracle is chopping hundreds of jobs globally. The event comes because the enterprise software program firm boosts spending on datacentres, that are vital infrastructure for working AI techniques—in a bid to compete with rivals, together with Alphabet and Amazon.

The place did the well-known phrase ‘You may’t deal with the reality’ originate?

Reply: The film A Few Good Males

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