By Erick I make a tech news roundup video every week that may have a bit more insight – head to my YouTube channel to check it out and make sure to subscribe!
We are officially over ‘Techtember’ – which is just the name the tech world gives the month of September. For tech bloggers it’s the term given because September happens to be the month where the most news seems to happen. It’s when the iPhones release, when Samsung or Google has an event of their own and when other policy and gadget related news just happens.
This year, for the first time I feel that the tech news in India overshadows the global tech news. In September 2025 we started with Semicon India and the launch of India’s fully-made-in-India chip. Then there’s the nation’s response to the H1B madness. Then there’s Zoho’s strides with their enterprise suite and their chat app.
I’m feeling so good about Tech India right now. I’m working hard to overcome the imposter syndrome that is ingrained in us when it comes to tech – making us believe that Tech India will never be as good as tech in the West. Reverse brain drain? Swadeshi Pro Max? Bring it on!
Speaking of swadeshi – somehow – Chennai boy Aravind Srinivas is officially India’s youngest billionaire.
I know, he didn’t make his money in India and is very comprehensively American – though he still maintains Indian nationality as of now. But what I do admire is his grit – this IIT-M and UC Berkley alumnus dude is like “I’m going to compete with Google”. I bet he’ll call Sundar and tell him in Tamil that Google is now too big for its own good, and that Perplexity should by Chrome (no kidding – and integrate Chrome into Perplexity’s Comet browser or vice versa).
I guess a big part of me is jealous of my fellow ‘Chennai boy’ who is four years younger … and infinity times richer than me. Sigh. Why didn’t I try for IIT-M?!
This is not all rainbows and roses though. Perplexity got a bad rep for parsing data from every possible internet source – even data that’s locked behind paywalls. And of course, like OpenAI and Anthropic, Perplexity is also facing multiple copyright infringements. Still, gotta admire this 31-year-old Chennai boy who is infinity times richer than me. Sigh.
Okay now, here’s what else happened this week in Tech India:
- Starlink India – that has received one license after another (see multiple previous TWITI or use the search bar on this website) will release on….. still not determined. Still ‘very soon’ but no set data for its launch in India. The latest is that Starlink in India will have a cap of 2 million customers and offer speeds up to 200 Mbps, with an average expectation of 100 Mbps, to ensure a competitive landscape and protect local internet providers.
- YouTube Premium “light”Lite” launches in India – offering an ad-free YouTube video viewing experience for just ₹89/- per month. This doesn’t include YouTube Music though, which is one of the main reasons people subscribe to YouTube Premium.
- Elon Musk’s X will appeal the Karnataka High Court’s judgement upholding the Sahyog portal (the Government’s portal to order social media platforms to censor content it deems objectionable). This is following a challenge that X lost to have the Government drop the Sahyog portal itself. So if they lose this appeal, will X appeal the judgment that threw away this appeal? Man, lawyers sometimes make a lot of money.
- Simpl, the Bangalore based fintech startup that got ordered by RBI to stop payment operations last week, lays off 100 employees. I mean, they could at least have waited for the RBI investigation to complete?
- MeitY releases draft Online Gaming Rules 2025 to regulate money games, promote e-sports, and seek public feedback that’s open till 31st October. I just hope they don’t reverse the Real Money Games (RMG) ban.
- Amazon and Flipkart under scrutiny for making customers pay extra for choosing the cash on delivery option at payment. Not a good look, especially ahead of the festive season.
- Imminent tech IPOs are Wework and LG Electronics India Ltd.
Yes, there is more news from Zoho:
- Arattai offers an Android TV version of its app – something that even WhatsApp doesn’t offer.
- Zoho launches a privacy-first browser called Ulaa.
- Zoho launches a visual intelligence platform called Vani.
- Zoho reveals plans to build a new data centre in Odisha.
- Education ministry orders all departments to use Zoho’s enterprise suite, rather than Microsoft’s.
In other news – China launches a “K Visa” which is supposed to be their version of H1B visa. But more than this, what warmed my heart is this techie celebrating being granted INDIA’s version of the H1B visa:
People are celebrating being granted an Indian visa. Nice!