iWorld
Ganesh Venkatraman to host SonyLIV’s Crime Patrol in Tamil
MUMBAI: ‘Satark Rahe’, ‘Surakshit Rahe’, ‘Har Jurm Dastak Deta Hai’ – If these lines resonate with you, then you have grown up watching Crime Patrol. Over the last 16 years, this marquee show from the Sony Pictures Networks stable has kept us hooked onto our screens with compelling cases and gritty storytelling. Riding on its colossal popularity of being India’s longest-running reality crime television series, the show now gets a Southern makeover. SonyLIV, the digital streaming platform is set to launch the Tamil version of Crime Patrol and has roped in leading Tamil actor Ganesh Venkatraman as the anchor.
Ganesh Venkatraman will step into the shoes of Anup Soni who toplined the Hindi version of the crime series for years. With films across six regional industries, Ganesh is one of India’s finest film and TV actor and was also a finalist in "Bigg Boss Tamil 1". Some of the films he starred in were Radha Mohan's Abhiyum Naanum (2008), Unnaipol Oruvan (2009) and Kandahar (2010) besides a number of ad films across different Indian languages.
Confirming the news, Ganesh Venkatraman said, “Creating awareness about crimes is a serious job and I am happy to team up with a very passionate team of technicians for the same. I truly believe Crime Patrol is not just a format breaking series but a path-breaking one for the Tamil audiences. My grandfather was a Police officer and my father is a lawyer, so naturally law & order runs in my blood. My tough cop roles in my movies have been always appreciated by Tamil audiences. I am super excited to don a new avatar piecing together these crimes for our audiences. My best wishes to SonyLIV for a successful launch in Tamil and shooting for the series is turning out to be a fantastic experience.”
Crime Patrol Tamil will go live this August only on SonyLIV.
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.
