Happy Monday! Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi sat down with ET to discuss the company’s ambitions in (and for) India, among other things. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Also in the letter:
■ NPCI’s one soundbox move
■ Delhivery Q4 earnings
■ Tata-ASML chip deal
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on India bets, Travis Kalanick, jobs in the AI era & more
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said India is on track to become the company’s largest market by trips within the next decade. It is currently number three.
Why India matters: Uber sees India as both a core growth market and its biggest talent base outside the US. That is driving fresh investments in tech centres, infrastructure and local product development.
Competition heats up: Khosrowshahi acknowledged rising competition from players such as Rapido, especially in bike taxis, but said Uber is focused on long-term market leadership rather than short-term, tactical skirmishes.
Beyond ride-hailing: Hinting at a potential return to food delivery through partnerships, Uber is exploring hyperlocal logistics and commerce tie-ups that can help small businesses plug into the on-demand economy.
Also Read: Zomato acquires Uber Eats in an all-stock transaction
AI and autonomy: Khosrowshahi said AI is making engineers “superpowered” and argued that Uber’s real edge lies in its ability to match supply and demand at scale. That, he said, positions Uber as a key platform partner even in an AI agent-led future.
Read the full interview here.
Tune in| Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on AI, EVs & why India could become Uber’s biggest market
Nvidia may lead AI startup Simplismart’s $20 million fundraise at $100 million valuation
Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, is in advanced talks to back Simplismart, a homegrown startup that helps enterprises run AI models more efficiently in production.
Deal details:
- Nvidia could lead a $20 million funding round in Simplismart at a valuation near $100 million.
- The valuation would be a fourfold jump from the roughly $25 million at which Simplismart last raised capital in 2024.
- Existing investor Accel is expected to participate, and at least one new investor is likely to join.
Tell me more: Founded in 2022, Simplismart helps enterprises deploy, manage and optimise AI models at scale. Its platform is designed to improve GPU utilisation and cut inference costs.
The talks come as Nvidia deepens its India AI play through cloud partnerships, startup collaborations and investments in enterprise AI infrastructure firms.
One soundbox soon for all payment apps as NPCI readies platform
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is developing a common, interoperable system for soundboxes that can support Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments made through any payment app, people aware of the matter told us.
What’s happening? As soundboxes spread among retailers and small merchants, NPCI’s new platform is being designed to work regardless of which company’s QR code is used for payments.
- Under the proposed model, merchants will be able to link several QR codes to a single registered soundbox.
- Payment alerts will then appear on the same device, regardless of which app customers use to pay.
Why this matters?
- Today, many merchants maintain separate QR codes and soundboxes for each platform, such as PhonePe, BharatPe, and Paytm.
- This adds to operational clutter and recurring costs.
- With each box typically charging a monthly fee of about Rs 100–150, a common system could help businesses cut costs by reducing the need for multiple devices.
What else? If NPCI launches a common API for audio payment confirmations, it could open the door to a new, QR code-agnostic payment channel.
Also Read: Smaller UPI apps to demand fresh curbs on market leaders at NPCI meet: Sources
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Delhivery operating revenue jumps 30%; net profit flat at Rs 72 crore: New-age logistics company Delhivery reported a 30% year-on-year jump in operating revenue for the January-March quarter to Rs 2,849 crore, even as its net profit remained flat at Rs 72 crore, according to a regulatory filing.
Delhivery elevates six executives to C-suite roles amid expansion push: Gurugram-based logistics services provider Delhivery has elevated six senior executives to C-suite roles as the company looks to strengthen its leadership team amid expansion across business verticals.
Tata Electronics, ASML join hands for semiconductor manufacturing in India: Electronics and semiconductor manufacturing player Tata Electronics on Saturday said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML for its lithography tools.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ India’s VCs are beating Silicon Valley at home (Rest of World)
■ An engineer’s post protesting laptop surveillance is going viral inside Meta (Wired)
■ Chinese AI groups pull ahead of US rivals in video generation race (FT)
