Techtonic Shift

In 2012, Tinder, formerly Matchbox, unleashed itself on the world and we haven’t looked back since. According to Business Of Apps, over 300 million people worldwide use dating apps, which have proliferated in the thousands. 

As the likes of dating conglomerate Match Group and its niche counterparts prioritise engagement over trust and safety, in this episode of TechTonic Shift, Rajneil and Roshni indulge in some crystal ball gazing and discuss where hookups, companionship, and love may be headed. Tune in!

The music industry is no stranger to the effects of AI, just like the entertainment industry is. AI has long been used to make music suggestions and to analyse user behaviour. But these days, "creative" processes are increasingly using AI-powered tools. For instance, AI music maker Boomy asserts to have produced over 16 million original songs since its 2019 debut. What does this imply for the music business's future?

Reading References

AI in the music industry

AI Can Hurt or (Hopefully) Help the Music Business: Here’s How

As tech firms are looking to diversify beyond China, India is eyeing an opportunity for itself. It is leaving no stone unturned in courting everyone from contract manufacturing giants (Foxconn) to EV companies (Tesla). But can India dominate the global supply chain for high-end, precision, and emerging technologies? 

Tune in to this new episode of TechTonic Shift!

References and recommended reading:

1. India’s semiconductor moment (The Statesman)

2. Will India Surpass China to Become the Next Superpower? (Foreign Policy)

3. Inside Apple's India dream (Nikkei Asia)

4. US to reboot India’s chip ambitions, will help plug-in to global alliances (The Indian Express)

5. SMIC: The Chinese company at the centre of US-China chip war (TRT World)

6. Mapping India’s chip design ecosystem (The Hindu)

Lately, Byju’s has been hogging the limelight for all the wrong reasons. What was once touted as the world’s largest ed-tech company, is now drowning in crisis.

How did a highly valued ed-tech start up come crashing down and what does it say about the future of ed-tech? Tune in to this week’s episode of TechTonic Shift!

References:

The ongoing strike by Hollywood’s writers and actors has thrown the spotlight over a pertinent issue: how will AI change entertainment? Will producers use AI to write scripts or complete unfinished screenplays? Will digital likenesses make actors dispensable?

In this episode of TechTonic Shift, we discuss 'generative entertainment', and how streaming brought us one step closer to this eventuality.

Note: Show host Rajneil Kamath mentioned Collective Artists Network. It was mistakenly mentioned in place of the Creative Artists Agency. The error is regretted.

Recommended reading:

Big Tech companies are aggressively trying to capture the healthcare sector. Be it with wearables or fitness apps, cloud services or AI-driven medical assistance, Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft are all looking to leverage their technology to dominate the space.

But have they been able to actually crack healthcare or is their innovation limited to wellness?

As Twitter remains embroiled in chaos, Meta is shooting its shot with ‘Threads’. Will this spell trouble for Elon Musk? Can Twitter be replaced?

In this episode of TechTonic Shift, co-hosts Rajneil and Roshni discuss Twitter alternatives and the changing landscape of social media. Tune in!

You’ll have to agree that India’s creator economy has come a long way.

While creator startups are going bust, content creators themselves are aiming for the stars. They are making appearances at Cannes, bagging enviable interviews with government officials, some are even launching their own brands. But there are also talks of regulation.

Does the creator economy have more steam left, or has it reached its peak? Join us in this new episode of TechTonic Shift!

Reddit has gone to war against API monetisation. Thousands of subReddits have gone dark in defiance of the decision to charge a fee from third-party app developers for ‘premium access’ to the platform’s API.

It is not the only platform to stir up the conversation around API pricing. Twitter too has cut off free access to its APIs, shuttering third-party app developers.

But could these platforms become what they are today without third-party apps? Or, should tech companies do what they gotta do for revenue? Join Roshni Nair and Rajneil Kamath in this episode of TechTonic Shift!

We’ve seen the Google I/O event from May followed by Apple’s WWDC event in June. The one that stood out was perhaps nothing at all. Have we reached peak smartphone innovation? Join Roshni Nair and Rajneil Kamath in the first episode of Techtonic Shift!