Month: March 2025

X has more than 600 million users, and its future is “intertwined” with that of xAI, launched two years ago, according to Elon Musk.

Elon Musk said on Friday that his artificial intelligence startup xAI is buying his social networking platform X in a deal that valued the company, once known as Twitter, at $33 billion. “This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI’s advanced AI capability and expertise with X’s massive reach,” Musk said in a post on his social network.

X has more than 600 million users, and its future is “intertwined” with that of xAI, launched two years ago, according to Musk.

“Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution, and talent,” Musk said of combining the two companies. “This will allow us to build a platform that doesn’t just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress.”

The companies are being combined in an all-stock deal that values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion, factoring in the social network’s $12 billion debt.

Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in late 2022 in a transaction that included debt and launched xAI the following year, spending billions of dollars on high-end Nvidia chips for the venture.

xAI in February released the latest version of its chatbot, Grok 3, which the billionaire hopes will find traction in a highly competitive sector contested by the likes of ChatGPT and China’s DeepSeek.

Musk has promoted Grok 3 as “scary smart,” with 10 times the computational resources of its predecessor that was released in August last year. Grok 3 is also going up against OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT – pitting Musk against collaborator-turned-arch rival Sam Altman.

Musk and Altman were among the 11-person team that founded OpenAI in 2015. Created as a counterweight to Google’s dominance in artificial intelligence, the project got initial funding from Musk.

Musk left three years later, and then in 2022, OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT created a global technology sensation — which made Altman a tech world star. Their relationship has become increasingly toxic and litigious ever since.

X’s billionaire owner, the world’s richest person, is a major financial backer of US President Donald Trump and heads a Department of Government Efficiency that has been slashing the ranks of government employees.

Industry analysts at Emarketer forecast that ad revenue at X will grow this year as brands fear retaliation by politically connected Musk if they don’t spend on the platform.

“Many advertisers may view spending on X as a cost of doing business in order to mitigate potential legal or financial repercussions,” said Emarketer principal analyst Jasmine Enberg.

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Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) on Friday announced share inclusion in Nifty Next 50, Nifty 100, Nifty 500 and other key capital market indices.

Hyundai Motor India commenced trading on the Indian stock markets after its listing on October 22, 2024.

“As a listed entity, we are elated to cross yet another important milestone. By becoming a part of prestigious Indian capital market indices such as the Nifty Next 50 and BSE 500, we have fortified HMIL’s standing in the Indian stock exchanges, reinforcing its market presence and credibility,” HMIL Managing Director Unsoo Kim said in a statement.

“As India grows, HMIL will continue to grow intrinsically with it, along with a constant focus on driving innovation, improving operational efficiencies, and making strategic investments that will strengthen our business outlook and contribute to the growth of the Indian economy,” he added.

The National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) has included Hyundai Motor India Ltd in its coveted Nifty Next 50 index, broad market indices and thematic Indices.

In the recent Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) rejig which took place on February 28, 2025, HMIL was the only large cap from India to be included to the MSCI Global Standard Index.

Also, HMIL has been included in several indices of the BSE such as BSE 500, BSE All Cap, BSE Large Cap and BSE Large Midcap among others with effect from March 24.

During 2024, HMIL achieved highest-ever yearly domestic sales of 6,05,433 vehicles, marking the third consecutive year of this accomplishment.

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India is asking the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money-laundering watchdog, to reduce compliance requirements for cross-border payments made through its homegrown system, several sources familiar with the discussions said. 

Launched in 2016, the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) accounted for 83% of India’s digital payments volume in 2024, up from 34% in 2019, and dominates the domestic retail payments sector. 

The government now wants to increase the use of its own payments network by Indians travelling abroad, which could potentially tap into a growing market, and make the global cross-border payments market more competitive. 

But its expansion for cross-border payments has been hampered by compliance requirements on smaller payments, to which payments made via networks such as Visa, Mastercard , and SWIFT are not subject, the sources said.

Government officials raised the issue at an FATF conference in Mumbai this week, two of the sources said, declining to be named because they are not authorised to speak to media.

The FATF, India’s central bank and the federal finance ministry did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Visa and Mastercard did not respond to requests for comment. 

A final decision would depend on achieving a consensus among FATF member countries after the public consultation period, a third source familiar with the discussions said. 

A public consultation on the FATF’s “travel rule”, which requires financial institutions to collect, hold, and transmit information about the sender and receiver of cross-border payments, is open until April 18.

In their current form, global anti-money laundering rules tend to favour both card networks and payments facilitated by the SWIFT payment system, the three sources said. 

Central Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra told the FATF gathering that “it would be desirable to make the (FATF’s) travel rule technology-neutral,” without specific mention of UPI. 

India has so far inked deals with seven nations, including France and Singapore, which allow merchants to accept payments via the UPI.

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Blackstone-backed ASK Asset & Wealth Management Group on Friday said it has received an in-principle approval from the markets regulator Sebi to start its mutual fund business.

This development marks a significant step in ASK’s expansion plans.

The mutual fund offering will complement ASK’s existing suite of investment solutions, which cover listed equity portfolio management, and wealth management, providing a broader range of opportunities for investors across segments.

“We have received in-principle approval for entering the mutual fund business. India’s investment landscape is evolving rapidly, and we see a tremendous opportunity to bring our research-driven, client-centric investment approach to a wider audience.

“We are confident that with ASK’s deep-rooted expertise and commitment to long-term wealth creation, and with our legacy of trust and performance, we will be able to offer differentiated products that cater to the diverse needs of investors. We look forward to establishing our AMC to meet Sebi’s final approval requirements,” Sunil Rohokale, Co-Founder, CEO and Managing Director, ASK Asset & Wealth Management Group, said in a statement.

The company said it will now work towards fulfilling Sebi’s requirements to obtain the final approval and launch its mutual fund offerings in due course.

The Mutual Fund Industry has seen a significant growth with assets under management (AUM) growing three times from Rs 24 lakh crore in March 2019 to Rs 67 lakh crore as of January 2025.

Further, unique investors have also seen a rise from 1.9 crore to 5.3 crore during the same period. Although India’s current mutual fund penetration is significantly lower than global levels presenting a substantial opportunity.

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India’s central bank is set to double to 10 per cent a cap on investment by individual foreign investors in listed companies, as it aims to boost capital inflows, according to two senior government officials and documents reviewed by Reuters.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), pressured by poor earnings, high valuations and prospects of US tariffs, have pulled more than $28 billion out of Indian stocks since September’s record high in the benchmark NSE Nifty 50.

To boost foreign investment, India is widening to all foreign investors benefits it had until now restricted to overseas Indians, while also raising applicable investment limits, the officials said.

“It is felt that these proposals may be implemented as early as possible,” the central bank told the government in a letter last week, pointing to disruption in capital inflows among recent developments in the external sector.

Emails seeking comment from the finance ministry, the central bank, and the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), did not get any response.

The plans envisage allowing all foreign individual investors to invest a maximum of 10 per cent in a listed company, the document showed.

That is up from the 5 per cent holding in an Indian company allowed to overseas Indian citizens by special rules under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

“Current foreign exchange management rules only mention non-resident Indians (NRIs) and overseas citizens of India (OCIs) under Schedule III,” the second government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“We are broadening this to include all individual foreign investors.”

The central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will also raise to 24 per cent the combined holding limit for all overseas individual investors in an Indian listed company, from 10 per cent now, the officials added.

The plan to hike foreign investor limits in Indian listed firms is in the final stages of discussion between the government, the RBI, and Sebi, the officials said.

MONITORING CHALLENGES

While the government and the RBI favour the move, the market regulator has flagged some challenges in monitoring compliance with foreign investment limits.

It has warned that a single foreign investor holding of 10 per cent, combined with associates, could exceed 34 per cent, triggering takeover rules.

“Without effective monitoring across different frameworks, such takeovers may go undetected,” Sebi cautioned the RBI in a letter last month.

Indian rules compel an investor who acquires more than 25 per cent of a company to make an open offer for shares held by retail investors.

The government and regulators are now weighing these concerns before finalising the reforms.

“We are working to rationalise the rules to prevent the possibility of such arbitrage across regulations by the foreign investors,” the second official said.

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