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  • Race Heats Up: 7 Firms Make the Cut in MeitY’s AI GPU Tender Round 2

    According to media sources, the IndiaAI Mission has selected seven businesses for technical review under the second phase of the graphics processing units (GPU) tender, including partners of Google Cloud, Oracle, and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

    The companies Cyfuture India, Sify Digital Services, Vensysco Technologies, Locuz Enterprise Solutions, Yotta Data Services, Ishan Infotech, and Netmagic IT Services (now NTT Global Data Centres & Cloud Infrastructure India, or NTT GDC India) have been invited by the Mission to present their technical proposals on May 14.

    MeitY Expects 15,000 GPUs

    In this round, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) anticipates receiving 15,000 GPUs. Locuz and Vensysco affirmed their partnership with AWS.

    Although the specifics of their collaboration for this proposal are unknown, Ishan Infotech is an Oracle partner and NTT-Netmagic is a Google Cloud partner in India. Appsquadz Software and AWS will be Vensysco’s consortium partners, according to Vikash Kumar Dubey, managing director of Vensysco Technologies.

    Vensysco will provide 2,300 GPUs, including 200 AWS Inferentia 2 GPUs, 100 AWS Trainium 1 GPUs, and 2,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs. In addition, it is providing 1,300 more GPUs this time around than it did the last time, which was 1,000.

    One of the five lowest (L1) bidders in the initial round was Locuz, which is currently owned by SHI International, a US IT infrastructure company.

    Yotta and Vensysco Emerged as L2 Bidders

    Among others, Yotta and Vensysco have been L2 bidders in the first round. Similar offers of 1,000 GPUs, comprising 700 Nvidia H100 GPUs, 200 AWS Inferentia 2 GPUs, and 100 AWS Trainium 1 GPUs, were made by Locuz and Vensysco in that round.

    Cyfuture India’s CEO, Anuj Bairathi, informed a news outlet that the company has placed purchase orders for 1,184 GPUs. These consist of AMD’s MI300 and MI325 GPUs, Intel’s Gaudi 2 and Gaudi 3 GPUs, and Nvidia’s H100, L40S, and A100 GPUs. Cyfuture, a cloud service provider with MeitY panels, developed Cyfuture.ai, a fully integrated AI platform.

    Technically, the business was not eligible for the GPU tender’s first round. ET’s queries for responses from IndiaAI, NTT GDC India, Google Cloud, Sify, Yotta, Ishan, and Oracle were not answered. In order to preserve its leadership in AI and national security, nations like the US have placed export limits on modern AI chips, particularly GPUs, making them a highly sought-after resource globally.

     In January, India formally began its INR 10,000-crore India AI Mission, in which empanelled bidders offered 14,517 GPUs at L1 prices, falling short of the 10,000 GPU threshold specified in the IndiaAI compute pillar.

    As part of the mission, the government is also providing investment funding and other forms of support to academia and industry to encourage the development of local language models. The goal of the action is to increase India’s AI capabilities.

  • Zomato Hits Pause on 50:50 Refund Policy with Restaurants

    Zomato, a prominent player in the foodtech industry, has suspended a policy that asked restaurant partners to split 50% of refund costs, just weeks after it was introduced. The new policy has been gradually implemented by Zomato over the last few months.

    Zomato stated in the emails it issued to its restaurant partners that both the firm and the restaurants would contribute 50% to the client refunds. In the email, Zomato said that unresolved issues cause a slow but continuous drop in client retention, which negatively impacts the restaurant’s and Zomato’s capacity to generate demand.

    Resolving a complaint is much less expensive than losing a customer. It also emphasised that the new refund policy is about more than just cost sharing; it’s about fostering trust, guaranteeing equity, and creating a more robust and sustainable food distribution system.

    Policy will be Relaunched After Necessary Alterations

    A few weeks after the new policy went into effect, the corporation stopped it. Zomato recently emailed some of its restaurant partners to let them know that the programme will be relaunched after taking into account the input they received.

    In an email, Zomato announced that it had put the programme on hold for the time being and would restart it after taking partner input into consideration. A media outlet was informed by a number of restaurant owners that Zomato is attempting to “cut its costs” with the new policy.

    A restaurant owner pointed out a policy flaw in a media report by asking why the business should foot the bill if the food is cold when the delivery partner gets there due to traffic or the delivery executive taking a longer route.

    Another restaurateur stated that although it was previously optional, Zomato appears to be forcing eateries to pay for refunds in order to reduce its costs. The proprietor clarified that following Zomato’s refund initiative, the restaurant partners were previously given the choice to accept or deny a claim.

    If the restaurant denied the allegation, Zomato was responsible for the full amount. However, the restaurant partners would have no say once the new policy was implemented.

    It is important to remember that Zomato often starts reimbursements for “high-value, power” customers—those who place large orders and rarely complain about them.

    Massive Decline in Zomato’s Business

    The development coincides with a slowing in the expansion of Eternal’s meal delivery service. Due to slow growth in food delivery and rising rapid commerce prices, Eternal’s consolidated profit after tax (PAT) fell 77.8% to INR 39 Cr in Q4 FY25 from INR 175 Cr in the same period last year.

    In the March quarter, Zomato’s adjusted EBITDA was INR 428 Cr, up 2% sequentially and 56% year-over-year (YoY). To INR 2,409 Cr, adjusted revenue increased 17% year over year and decreased 0.2% quarter over quarter (QoQ).

     In addition, Zomato announced that it would discontinue its Quick and Everyday services and delisted 19,000 eateries in Q4. In a letter to the company’s shareholders, Eternal CEO Deepinder Goyal acknowledged that the growth in meal delivery is still below projections.

    Additionally, Zomato and restaurants are already at odds over the new regulation. The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), a restaurant association, stated earlier this year that it was considering bringing legal action against Swiggy and Zomato for their respective quick meal delivery apps, Snacc and Bistro.

  • Government Launches Copyright Review Panel as AI Sparks Legal Storm

    A group has apparently been established by the Centre to examine current copyright legislation in light of the growing number of issues pertaining to artificial intelligence (AI). According to a media report, the Union trade ministry last month formed a group consisting of eight specialists to investigate AI-related issues and their consequences for India’s copyright law.

     According to the source, the team, which consists of government representatives, industry executives, and intellectual property attorneys, will determine if the Copyright Act of 1957 is sufficient to address issues pertaining to AI.

    In light of copyright concerns, the panel members have been instructed to identify and evaluate legal and policy concerns resulting from the application of AI. As a result, the government will get the committee’s report.

    Never Ending Trouble for Open AI

    The main issue raised by news platforms is that AI companies are using their copyrighted content to train their core models without obtaining a licence, permission, or payment. Last year, ANI brought a case against OpenAI in India before the Delhi High Court (HC).

     Media organisations such as NDTV, Network18, the Indian Express, and the Hindustan Times joined the case against the inventor of ChatGPT in January of this year. The Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) and 20 companies filed a 135-page complaint in court, arguing that OpenAI’s “conduct” poses “a clear and present danger to the valuable copyrights” of DNPA members and other sources.

    On behalf of all of its members, including Rupa Publications, S Chand and Co., Bloomsbury, Penguin Random House, Cambridge University Press, and others, the Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP) also filed a complaint against OpenAI in the Delhi High Court earlier this year.

    Music Companies too Raising Concerns

    Major record companies including T-Series, Saregarama, and Sony also indicated in February that they would be interested to join the Delhi High Court’s ongoing copyright case against the ChatGPT creator.

    The HC at the time requested that OpenAI respond to the Indian Music Industry’s (IMI) motion to join the lawsuit. According to ANI’s plea, ChatGPT “reproduced verbatim or substantially similar extracts” of the news agency’s publications at the request of users.

    The lawsuit also alleges that by using ANI’s content to train its large language models (LLMs), OpenAI took advantage of the new agency’s content for its own financial benefit. ANI told the Delhi High Court at a hearing in March of this year that the ChatGPT maker’s use of its content dilutes its market, which results in unfair competition.

    Notably, the AI giant managed by Sam Altman previously urged the HC to reject infringement charges against it and informed the court that it is not required to form alliances with major media sites in order to use their content.

  • PwC to Cut 1,500 Jobs Across US in Major Workforce Shake-Up

    PwC is the most recent of the Big Four accountancy firms to lay off employees. The company is laying off about 1,500 workers in the US, or about 2% of its 75,000-person US workforce, according to a media report.

     Employees in the audit and tax departments are the main targets of the layoffs. PwC has also made the decision to reduce campus recruitment in addition to the job losses. Nonetheless, the company stated that it will honour all current employment offers given to the interns from the previous year, who are anticipated to start working for the company later this year.

    According to a PwC spokeswoman, this was a tough choice that the company made carefully, thoughtfully, and with a great deal of consideration for how it would affect its employees. The company acknowledged that historically low attrition rates over a number of years had necessitated this action.

    Up For Promotion: Ended up Losing the Job

    According to a media source, Microsoft Teams invites marked as “time sensitive” were sent to the impacted employees. According to the article, one impacted individual stated that several of them were up for promotion, but they are now being cut off instead of receiving a rise in salary and a promotion. Today’s layoffs caught everyone completely off guard.

    Similar actions have also been taken by other Big Four companies. Plans to cut employees in its US consulting division were recently reported by Deloitte.

    According to a statement released last month by Deloitte spokesperson Jonathan Gandal, there is still a high demand for the company’s services overall.

    Based on low levels of voluntary attrition, the firm’s government clients’ changing demands, and moderating growth in some areas, the company is implementing moderate personnel actions. KPMG lay off 330 workers in its US audit division in November, which amounts to around 4% of the company’s staff.

    Layoffs have Become a Common Scenario in 2025

    With big companies like Google, Microsoft, and others continuing to reduce their workforces, layoffs in the tech sector are not expected to halt in 2025.

    Companies are still cutting employees in an effort to simplify operations, save money, and emphasise automation and artificial intelligence, even though these figures are much lower than the major layoffs that occurred between 2022 and 2023.

    Layoffs.fyi, a website that tracks layoffs in the industry, reports that 93 organisations have laid off nearly 23,500 tech workers so far this year, and the number is still growing.

    Google and Microsoft are apparently contemplating a new round of layoffs, according to the most recent job reduction reports. According to reports, AI-led restructuring and performance-based terminations are part of the corporations’ goals to increase the effectiveness of their personnel.

  • Gemini 2.5 Pro Revealed: Google’s Next-Gen AI Takes Center Stage Before I/O 2025

    This month, Google is getting ready to host Google I/O 2025, its annual developer conference. However, the tech giant has unveiled a new iteration of its AI model, Gemini, ahead of its annual software presentation.

     The company’s flagship Gemini 2.5 Pro AI model has been enhanced and is now available as the Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview.

    With the intention of giving developers early access to its improved capabilities, the business unveiled the new model—named Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview (I/O edition)—earlier than anticipated. Google claims that the Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview has enhancements in a variety of code areas.

    Google Claims: Best Coding Model Ever Made

    Demis Hassabis, the CEO of Google DeepMind, wrote on X about the new AI model’s release. It is the best coding paradigm ever created, according to Hassabis. He goes on to say that the concept is perfect for developing interactive applications.

    Additionally, Haasabis posted a video demonstrating how to use Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview for idea development. Haasabis expressed his excitement about sharing the best coding model brand ever created in a post on X.

    The company is releasing the Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview ‘I/O edition’ today, which has significantly enhanced coding capabilities. Holds the top spot on the WebDev Arena Leaderboard and the LMArena Coding Ranking.

     It excels at creating interactive web applications; this example demonstrates how useful it is for concept prototyping. Try it in AI Studio (http://ai.dev), Vertex AI, and @GeminiApp. Savour the pre-I/O treats.

    New Improved Features of Gemini 2.5 Pro

    Google claims that Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview offers significant advancements in several coding areas, including front-end and user interface development, code editing and transformation, and the building of complex agentic workflows.

    It is anticipated that these improvements will expedite the development process, allowing programmers to create more inventive and effective apps.

    According to a blog post by Google, developers who are now using Gemini 2.5 Pro will benefit from improved coding performance as well as crucial developer feedback, such as fewer function calling errors and higher function calling trigger rates.

    No action is necessary to use the enhanced model, which is still available at the same price, as the prior iteration (03-25) now redirects to the more recent version (05-06).

    Gemini 2.5 Pro achieves 84.8% on the VideoMME standard, demonstrating cutting-edge video comprehension. When combined with code, this allows for new flows that were previously unattainable with earlier iterations.

    The Video to Learning App in Google AI Studio, for instance, shows how Gemini 2.5 Pro uses a single YouTube video to generate an interactive learning application.

    Compared to the prior basic example, the new Gemini 2.5 Pro model offers a more useful experience with enhanced video understanding and a comprehensive user interface.

  • IBM’s AI Strategy Shifts Jobs, Spurs Growth

    According to IBM Chief Executive Arvind Krishna, the company acknowledges that artificial intelligence has taken over the jobs of several hundred human resources workers. But Krishna doesn’t want people to think of the shift as just another instance of downsizing. IBM, he argues, has actually seen net hiring in areas such as programming, sales, and marketing, fields that require interaction with and judgment by humans.

    The statements were made at IBM’s annual Think conference in Boston, where the corporation spotlighted its freshest AI innovations. Krishna pointed out that while the tech has made some roles redundant, it’s actually allowed the company to invest more heavily in places where humans are necessary and where our job skills make a difference. He suggested that this is why IBM has actually seen a net increase in hiring these last few years.

    As well as making staff cuts, IBM has been rolling out new services to help enterprises build and manage their own AI agents. The range of our new tools is vast. They allow our clients to do everything from analyze data and conduct research to draft emails. These new offerings put IBM in league with similar products from other big tech firms: Amazon, OpenAI, Nvidia, and Microsoft. But there’s a big difference. When you look at IBM’s products, the emphasis seems to be on flexibility.

    Focusing on indeed AI and consulting has not insulated IBM from wider economic forces. External factors like the macroeconomic outlook and tariffs introduced during President Trump’s administration pose challenges for the company. But Krishna at least appears to believe that these won’t hurt IBM too much in the near future. Tariffs affect IBM’s earnings, but they don’t really affect the core business of IBM. That’s in part because IBM’s mainframe computers and its quantum systems are made in America.

    Arvind Krishna proposed that manageable minor disruptions occur, such as a 3 to 4 percent drop in business. But anything more and tougher decisions have to be made. IBM has some ambitious plans in place. It pledges to invest $150 billion in the U.S. over the next five years. That commitment underscores something that isn’t quite so clear in the future: IBM’s long-term commitment to growth.

    Balancing Efficiency and Human Ingenuity

    IBM’s evolving strategy highlights a critical question that many companies today must confront: how to balance the efficiency gains of AI with the irreplaceable value of human intelligence. Krishna believes that while automation will carry on transforming certain workflows, a robust demand will remain for human roles that necessitate direct contact, creative problem-solving, and above all, strategic thinking.

    As companies across all industries embrace AI, they tend to do so in one of two ways: either using it to automate tasks so humans can do more valuable work, or using it to automate tasks and then reassigning their human workers to do something else. IBM seems to have had more success with the first method of AI adoption.

  • Govt Restricts Indian Satellite Internet Devices to Domestic Use Only

    The DoT (Department of Telecommunications) has laid down fresh guidelines for satellite internet companies, further detailing its regulatory framework. Companies such as SpaceX’s Starlink still await final approval to beam down satellite internet to Indian customers. The fresh guidelines apply to two essential licenses, Unified License and Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite. These are the licenses under which companies like Starlink must operate to provide services to the Indian market.

    The new orders closely resemble the current obligations of telecom suppliers, such as the requirement that they must have in place the capability to monitor their subscribers’ web activities. That rule already governs traditional telecom operators and residential broadband providers, of course. But these orders are coming down at a rather delicate moment, as the service providers struggle with getting authorization to act as a GMPCS and to allocate the resource that allows them to do so, the satellites. That capability entails a rather heavy lift.

    Uniform Rules for All Players

    Experts in tech policy have underscored that these security measures have been incorporated directly into the Unified License instead of being issued as standalone guidelines. This arrangement secures the consistency of public policy. Even more important, consistency is particularly key now that two companies have already received GMPCS licenses and we expect more to join the market soon.

    While the revised regulations bring many operational aspects of traditional telecom and satellite operators into line, certain conditions remain that could create substantial roadblocks. For example, satellite terminals purchased abroad can’t work in India, and terminals bought in India must go dark if used outside the country. This kind of geo-fencing is seldom required anymore, and it makes Starlink and similar services considerably less attractive to customers in India.

    Operational Challenges Ahead

    Strict geo-fencing measures tend to be imposed with a clear intent: to stop cross-border signal spillover, especially in politically sensitive regions like Pakistan. The idea is to ensure that we can adequately monitor and control the satellite comms that are effectively operating within our territory.

    Another remarkable provision in the amendments is the requirement for satellite terminals to be produced in India within five years of starting service. This condition supports the Indian government’s larger program for local manufacturing and self-reliance but adds another layer of complication for foreign companies trying to enter the market.

    Starlink’s Uphill Battle Continues

    Starlink, which has allied with local behemoths Jio Platforms and Bharti Airtel to deliver its services, finds itself mired in red tape. The company has made strides in bringing local partners on board, but it is held back by the absence of clear rules on spectrum allocation from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Moreover, the Department of Telecommunications seems in no hurry to push the authorization process along.

    The executives at Starlink had a recent meeting with the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal. They had ambitious plans to discuss, since they wish to execute those plans in India. However, despite the high-level meeting, a clear path forward remains uncertain.

  • OpenAI Stays Nonprofit-First, Adjusts Growth Strategy

    OpenAI has reverted to its previous course of maintaining control of its business operations, revealing that its nonprofit side will retain the authority of the company. CEO Sam Altman conveyed these changes in a pitch to employees. The apparently morale-boosting news item for OpenAI is that Altman’s side of the company is not supposed to take over control in any significant manner that would hamper the mission of realizing a safe and beneficial future with advanced AI.

    The first plan had targeted shifting more power to the for-profit portion of the business. But that plan got influenced, of course, by regulatory scrutiny and public worries. So now we have a situation where OpenAI still controls things but does so under the auspices of a nonprofit organization.

    A New Corporate Framework Emerges

    Following the newly amended strategy, OpenAI will transmogrify its for-profit offshoot into a public benefit corporation (PBC). This structure, said to be a first among American artificial intelligence (AI) companies, is designed to balance at least two critical tasks: profit-making, always a challenge in the public-benefit space, especially when you’re following the model of Google, a company that started with a public-mission project and ended up with a very lucrative search engine; and the PBC’s artificial intelligence is not set to take over the world.

    A significant modification is removing profit caps for certain investors, allowing for much more flexible financing. Shareholders will now get stock, too, which makes their interests much more aligned with the long-term goals of the company. Altman made the point that these changes make the organization clearer and more fit for the scale of its operations. That is, a PBC can much more readily engage in mergers and acquisitions that corporations typically do.

    The nonprofit will keep choosing the members of the board for the new public benefit corporation. That means real oversight isn’t going anywhere. How much the nonprofit owns of the new structure isn’t clear. Reports suggest, however, that the initial board much resembles the current nonprofit leadership.

    Balancing Growth with Mission

    OpenAI began in 2015 as a research lab. Its founders, Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and others, set up the organization as a nonprofit, with the idea that it would develop AI in a safe and ethical manner. Today, OpenAI has a market valuation of around INR 25 lakh crore and serves approximately 400 million users each week.

    OpenAI has chosen to maintain nonprofit control of its for-profit arm while moving that operation into a public benefit corporation. The company hopes that this combination will allow it to fulfill the dual aims of pushing its technology forward and staying true to its founding principles.

  • Ather IPO Delivers Big Wins for Early Investors Despite Soft Market Debut

    Ather Energy, an electric two-wheeler company with considerable backing from investors, made its public market entry on Indian stock exchanges this week with an underwhelming response. The company’s IPO, available from April 28 to April 30, had set an offer amount of INR 2,981 crore, of which it had collected INR 1,340 crore from anchor investors just ahead of its opening. Despite some apparent early enthusiasm from investors, the company’s shares opened and then closed below their debut price.

    The company’s early financial backers tell a different tale through the numbers, even with the muted listing. Ather’s promoters and major shareholders, together with their combined stake, saw the value of their investments more than double, to INR 7,055.65 crore, as calculated from the red herring prospectus. They held INR 7,055.65 crore of Ather’s total value at the time of its initial public offering, more than double what they had invested early on.

    Flipkart Founders’ Early Investment Pays Off

    The major beneficiaries here are Flipkart co-founders Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal, who, in 2014, invested 3.1 crore each in Ather. While Sachin exited by selling his stake to Hero MotoCorp and the Kamath brothers of Zerodha, missing out on potential gains of up to 20%, Binny is still in. His original stake has grown to 92 crore, which is a bit hard to grasp even for us. But, it is the kind of unvarnished truth that highlights patience as a virtue in the high-growth electric vehicle sector.

    Ather’s list of shareholders showcases some very prominent names like Tiger Global, NIIF, GIC, Hero MotoCorp, and IIT Madras. They together hold close to 62% of the company. And it’s a who’s who in the institutional investment circle with our backers. Hero MotoCorp, which owns 30.9% of Ather, chose not to offload any shares during the IPO, maintaining a significant foothold in the business.

    Strategic Share Sales and Employee Windfall

    Although the IPO yielded few exits, some significant deals occurred. Promoters and important shareholders sold 1.1 lakh shares through an offer for sale (OFS), generating INR 354.76 crore. Investor Amit Bhatia completely exited, selling his shares for INR 59.48 lakh. Tiger Global, NIIF, and GIC’s current stakes stand at INR 585.66 crore, INR 537.76 crore, and INR 1,225.45 crore respectively, reflecting a healthy uptick in value.

    The success at Ather has also benefited its employees. Over 1,300 staff members participate in the company’s ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) program, which is set to expire in 2024. Under this program, the 1,65,00,000 shares owned by Ather’s staff have seen their value skyrocket to around INR 500 crore.

  • Asia’s Currency Surge Signals Shift Away from Dollar Reliance

    U.S. dollar stability is coming under scrutiny as Asian currencies have made some impressive gains against it. Markets have been reacting, with some of the movement tracing back to a large wave of dollar selling triggered in Taiwan. What’s notable is how sharp and widespread these gains are across not just one or two, but several currencies: the Singapore dollar, the Korean won, the Malaysian ringgit, and even the Hong Kong dollar are all areas where we can see this movement reflected.

    The Taiwan dollar’s stunning two-day surge of nearly 10% showcased the strength of this trend, with the similarly resilient Singapore dollar now floating near its loftiest heights in more than 10 years. Even Hong Kong’s currency, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar, pushed toward the upper bound of its trading band. Long a bastion of dollar stability, the system in Hong Kong looks increasingly like a pressure cooker, just like those in Taiwan and Singapore, with the currencies under pressure likely to give way to the atmosphere of rising dollar insecurity.

    Longstanding Dollar Investments Face Reassessment

    For decades, Asian economies have taken their trade surpluses and invested them in U.S. assets, with a particular focus on Treasuries. This practice, heavily shaped by the painful memories of the 1997-1998 crisis, has long been a bedrock of global financial flows. But in the last couple of years, it seems that this relationship might be changing, with a number of analysts indicating that the investment flows are moving in the opposite direction.

    Investors and exporters in China and other significant Asian markets now confront a decreasing U.S. appetite and an unstable economic forecast. This has led many to reconsider the sagacity of funneling funds into American markets. Financial companies are observing a noticeable uptick in hedging and repatriation moves, which signals a broadening inclination to keep capital in our neck of the woods.

    Market Adjustments and Strategic Moves

    In the midst of the tumult, reports suggest that Taiwan’s central bank has taken steps to stabilize the currency. Traders, however, observed heavy dollar selling that seemed to reflect at least tacit approval from authorities. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the central bank confirmed it has been trimming its U.S. Treasury holdings while diversifying into non-dollar assets. This signals a larger pivot.

    For a long time, funds that worked with dollar-based trades had been reaping profits. Now, those same funds are unwinding their positions. A strategy used in the Hong Kong forwards market that was once a reliable source of profit has reversed as the Hong Kong dollar has gained strength. Analysts say this is a clear sign that macro funds and leveraged players are moving out of the traditional dollar trades that used to work for them. It’s all a part of the Asian finance landscape.

    What Lies Ahead for Global Currency Markets

    This surge in Asian currencies might be the early stages of a broader de-dollarization trend, experts say. Large amounts of foreign currency, especially in China and Taiwan, are now being repatriated or redirected, and this is altering the flow of capital that has long underpinned the dollar’s strength. Financial institutions like UBS now put the potential dollar dent from Taiwan’s redirect at up to $70 billion.

    Although Taiwan’s government has publicly denied that recent U.S. trade discussions involved foreign exchange, the participants in those markets are concerned. They take the sustained strength of Asian currencies as a signal that the old, unquestioned reliance on the U.S. dollar as the world’s only true global currency is giving way to a new, less certain future.