iWorld
Airtel picks Hotstar content for its customers
MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel and Hotstar have announced a strategic partnership to bring digital content from the latter’s portfolio to Airtel customers. This will further expand Airtel TV app’s wide range of offerings and expand the footprint for Hotstar’s content across Airtel’s large mobile customer base.
Commenting on the partnership, Hotstar CEO Ajit Mohan added, “Airtel has among the widest consumer footprints in India and with our expansive content library, comprising rich programming that can cater across age groups, geographies and interests, there are natural synergies and we are very excited about this partnership.”
Wynk CEO Sameer Batra said, “We are delighted to have Hotstar onboard as a long term partner in our endeavour to build a world-class digital content ecosystem. Their rich content library will add immense value to our content play and add to the user experience. Airtel TV’s new version has received an extremely positive response from users and we will continue to bring exciting content and in-app innovations to delight them.”
With the new partnership, Airtel TV now has access to one of the largest and most exciting digital content portfolios in India, with 350 plus Live TV channels and close to 10,000 popular movies and shows from India and abroad. Airtel has forged partnerships with all leading broadcasters and production houses to bring the best of content on a single platform and offer a compelling experience to customers.
Hotstar’s library comprising over 100,000 hours of content, in nine languages will now be available to all Airtel customers for free through the Airtel TV app. This will include shows from 22 channels and over 3000 hit movies and shows.
All content on Airtel TV app is free for Airtel prepaid and postpaid customers on a promotional basis till June 2018.
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Airtel Digital TV revenue, PAT and EBITDA up in Q3 2018
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.
