Swipeline

Unicorn ride-hailing firm inDrive has backed Pakistan’s Krave Mart (YC S22) Mart via its VC arm, Mountain View, launched last year. The grocery delivery startup plans to expand into new markets following the investment, whose financial terms remain undisclosed.

Helsinki-based Voima Ventures has closed its new fund of over €100 to invest in deep tech startups in the Nordic and Baltic countries. With the fund, the VC will invest between €200.000 and €3 million.

Despite securing significant funding, OpenAI spends billions annually on AI model development. The Information reports that OpenAI has told investors it doesn’t anticipate turning a profit until 2029 due to high costs.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) announced that Telegram Messenger and Tencent (WeChat) have applied for licenses to continue their operations in the country as part of the licensing requirement that will take effect on January 1.

China-based Alibaba Group is reportedly preparing to sign a $4 billion deal with E-Mart to merge their online shopping platforms, aiming to boost its competitiveness in South Korea’s dynamic e-commerce market, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Iran’s official news agency, Irna News Agency, announced that access restrictions on some popular foreign platforms, such as WhatsApp and the Google Play Store, were lifted by a majority vote as part of a move to reduce internet restrictions.

Apple wants to join Google's historic antitrust case in the US and defend its $20 billion-a-year deal to use Google Chrome as the default search engine in the Safari browser on Apple devices.

Healthcare company WuXi AppTec is selling its Advanced Therapies and OXGENE units to US-based Altaris LLC due to new US restrictions on Chinese companies. The restrictions include preventing Americans' health data from being sent to China.

OpenAI has allegedly reconstituted the software team focused on developing humanoid robots that it disbanded four years ago. Last year, the AI giant invested in startups like Figure and Physical Intelligence, which develop hardware and software for robots.

The U.S. has launched an investigation into the production of legacy semiconductors, critical for cars, dishwashers, and military weapons. Officials warn that China’s dominance in the semiconductor market threatens the survival of companies in Europe and the U.S.