iWorld
SonyLIV and Mojo Productions announce their new web series ‘The Big Bong Connection’
MUMBAI: Life's like a treasure hunt. Sometimes you get a lot more than you bargained for!
After getting sacked from his job in Bangalore for wearing Boxers and cooking up fusion foods in office, Rohit Roy is back in Kolkata, in the hope of opening his Bengali fusion food restaurant ‘Bae Of Bengal’ in the city of joy. A bad break up is a wakeup call for most people and Sneha (fullname?) has run away from her parents in Delhi to her Popsy Masi hoping to open her interior design store in Kolkota. Both meet and fall in love and by the twist of fate, things happen that are little hard to digest. A whirlwind romance served with classic Bengali tadka, is all you need to spice up things this December as you sit to watch, The Big Bong Connection.
This web series explores the Kolkata of today – a cosmopolitan concoction of dreams, passion, cultural nuances and confusions. This concoction is what makes the Bengali culture and traditions hilarious yet fascinating to study as one that is always developing, growing and adapting in every way to the changing trends of this modern world.
The Big Bong Connection starts streaming on 27th of November on SonyLIV.
The episodic show is written by Chandroday Pal and Saptarshi Majumdar and produced by Joy B Ganguly.
The primary cast include Ridhima Ghosh, Shamaun Ahmed, Mithu Chakrabarty, Punya Darshan Gupta, Rii Sen, Debopriyo MukherjeeMaya Rachel McManus & Soumyadeep Bubbla Bhattacharya.
Music is by Shibasish Banerjee with songs sung by Nikhita Gandhi and Surjo Bhattacharjee.
e-commerce
American Express to acquire AI startup Hyper to boost automation
Deal targets expense management as AI reshapes corporate spending tools.
MUMBAI: From receipts to robots, the expense sheet is getting a brain upgrade as American Express moves to bring artificial intelligence into the heart of corporate spending. The company has announced plans to acquire Hyper, a relatively young but fast-rising startup founded in 2022 that builds AI-powered agents capable of organising expenses, generating reports, verifying compliance with budgets and policies, and nudging users with timely reminders. The deal, expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, underscores a growing shift among financial institutions to automate traditionally manual, time-heavy workflows.
Hyper counts Sam Altman among its backers, adding a layer of Silicon Valley credibility to the acquisition. While financial details remain undisclosed, the strategic intent is clear: deepen automation capabilities and sharpen American Express’s position in the competitive corporate spending ecosystem.
The two companies are not strangers. They previously collaborated in 2024 on a co-branded credit card product, suggesting that the acquisition is less a cold buy and more an extension of an existing relationship. With this move, American Express is effectively bringing that capability in-house, aiming to embed AI directly into its commercial services stack.
Chief executive Stephen Squeri had already signalled the direction of travel in a recent shareholder letter, describing AI as a “structural shift” in how businesses operate. The Hyper acquisition appears to be a direct response to that shift, particularly in expense management, where processes such as approvals, compliance checks and reporting remain ripe for automation.
Alongside the acquisition, the company is also expanding its product suite. A recently launched business credit card offers cashback and benefits at an annual fee of $295, with another card expected later this year moves that complement its broader push into commercial services.
Taken together, the strategy points to a future where managing expenses may require fewer spreadsheets and more algorithms. For American Express, the bet is simple, if businesses are rethinking how work gets done, the tools that power that work need to evolve just as quickly.
