iWorld
Reliance Jio makes a punt on tech start-ups
MUMBAI: After closing Saavn and Embibe deals, Reliance Jio, according to a report published by The Economic Times, is now looking to acquire Indian start-ups in the technology ecosystem.
In a bid to take on its competition, Reliance Jio is now looking to invest more to create a comprehensive ecosystem of digital products and services around its core telecom service.
To add more relevant entertainment and education content to its Jio platform, the company is looking to invest in or acquire start-ups operating in the content, healthcare, education technology, financial technology and transportation segments. It might also look at Jio aligning with product technology ventures, particularly those operating in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
In April, Reliance Jio Music and Saavn leveraged their synergies to jointly strengthen their foothold in the Indian music streaming market. The combined value of the companies has been pegged at $1 billion, out of which Jio Music’s implied valuation is $670 million leaving Saavn at a valuation of $330 million. With this, Reliance also acquired a partial stake in Saavn from its existing shareholders for $104 million.
Also, soon after this, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) agreed to invest over $180 Mn into AI-based education platform, Embibe over the next three years. This will put RIL in a position to buy out around 72.69% stake from Embibe’s existing investors including Lightbox and Kalaari Capital.
Leading Jio’s charge into the start-up ecosystem is Akash Ambani, the 27-year-old Brown University-educated older son of Mukesh Ambani. Akash Ambani, chief of strategy at the company, is believed to be deeply involved in the negotiations.
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Jio shifts focus to wired broadband
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
