iWorld
Sebi takes down 1.2 lakh finfluencer posts, deploys AI Sudarshan
Regulator sharpens digital watch as retail investors face options losses
NEW DELHI: The Securities and Exchange Board of India has pulled down more than 1.2 lakh misleading social media posts shared by unregistered financial influencers, tightening its grip on the fast-growing but often murky world of online investment advice.
Speaking to ANI, Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the regulator acted against content that crossed the line from financial education into outright misdirection.
“We have removed more than 120,000 such pieces of content where we found egregious behaviour violating our norms,” Pandey said, underlining that only Sebi-registered entities are allowed to offer investment advice.
Registration, he explained, is not a mere formality. It comes with clear do’s and don’ts designed to protect investors. While individuals are free to share opinions and educate audiences under the right to freedom of expression, Sebi steps in when advice strays into misleading territory.
The watchdog is not relying on manual policing alone. It has rolled out an in-house artificial intelligence tool called ‘Sudarshan’, capable of scanning multilingual audio, video and text content to detect violations across platforms. The name is fitting. In mythology, Sudarshan is a spinning weapon. In this case, it slices through dubious digital claims.
Pandey said social media platforms have cooperated with takedown orders, reinforcing Sebi’s authority to demand removal of offending content.
The regulator’s sharper focus comes amid a surge in retail participation in derivatives trading, particularly options, in the post-Covid period. According to Pandey, many small investors were swayed by online narratives promising easy money.
Sebi responded by publishing data showing substantial collective losses and by introducing statutory warnings. Now, whenever investors trade in options, a pop-up cautions that nine out of ten investors lose money, a stark reminder modelled on health warnings seen elsewhere.
Pandey described regulation as a calibrated exercise rather than a blunt-force operation. Market development, he said, requires precision. “It is not about a sledgehammer approach but more like a surgeon’s knife, identifying problem areas and dealing with them.”
Calling the past year “a year of reform”, the Sebi chief said the regulator’s goal remains balanced oversight, ensuring markets are neither choked by over-regulation nor left exposed by too little scrutiny.
For India’s growing tribe of retail investors, the message is simple. Scroll carefully, trust cautiously and remember that in markets, if something sounds too good to be true, it often is.
Gaming
Sony raises PS5 prices for second time in under a year
US disc edition jumps $100 to $649.99 as memory costs surge.
MUMBAI: Sony just hit the pause button on affordable gaming because when memory prices skyrocket, even the Playstation has to pay the premium. Sony has announced its second price increase for the Playstation 5 range in less than a year, citing pressures in the global economic landscape and a sharp rise in memory component costs driven by AI demand.
In the US, the PS5 disc edition will rise from $549.99 to $649.99, a $100 hike while the digital edition increases to $599.99. The more powerful PS5 Pro will jump $150 to $899.99. The Playstation Portal remote player will also rise by $50 to $249.99. The new prices take effect on 2 April 2026.
Similar increases have been applied in the UK (£90 per model), Europe and Japan. Sony last raised PS5 prices in the US in August 2025.
“We know that price changes impact our community, and after careful evaluation, we found this was a necessary step to ensure we can continue delivering innovative, high-quality gaming experiences to players worldwide,” Sony said in a blog post.
The hikes come amid an unprecedented surge in memory prices, as manufacturers prioritise supply for AI data centres. Analysts say Sony had likely secured price protections for components that have now expired, forcing the company to protect its hardware margins.
Ampere Analysis research director of games Piers Harding-Rolls told CNBC that further increases from Microsoft and Nintendo would not be surprising, though Nintendo may hesitate to raise the price of its recently launched Switch 2 while establishing the new platform.
The increases arrive eight months before the highly anticipated release of GTA 6, which is expected to drive strong console sales. However, early reactions online have been a mix of disappointment and resignation, with growing concern that premium gaming is increasingly becoming a hobby for higher-income players.
In a sector already grappling with tariffs, inflation and component shortages, Sony’s move underscores a tough reality: even the most popular consoles are not immune to the rising cost of keeping up with the latest technology.
