Tens of millions of Indians have voted on the first day of a staggered general election that ends on 1 June.
Almost a billion people are eligible to cast their ballots in a seven-phase election to the 543-seat lower house of parliament. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is seeking a third consecutive term.
Several key opposition parties, including the Congress, have formed an alliance in many states to take on BJP. Results will be announced on 4 June.
Key concerns include a jobs crisis, rising prices, a clampdown on dissent and opposition, and the politics of religion.
On Friday, more than 160 million voters in 21 states were eligible to vote for more than 1,600 candidates in 102 seats. With 39 seats, Tamil Nadu in southern India was the day's key battle ground state where Mr Modi's party is trying to make inroads.
The next round of voting will take place on 26 April.
Two of our top Anker power banks are back on sale at all-time low prices, including the 20,000mAh Prime portable charger. The sale extends to the Nano charger.
Microsoft has changed its policy to ban U.S. police departments from using generative AI through the Azure OpenAI Service, the company's fully managed, enterprise-focused wrapper around OpenAI technologies. Language added Wednesday to the terms of service for Azure OpenAI Service prohibits integrations with Azure OpenAI Service from being used "by or for" police departments in the U.S., including integrations with OpenAI's text- and speech-analyzing models. A separate new bullet point covers "any law enforcement globally," and explicitly bars the use of "real-time facial recognition technology" on mobile cameras, like body cameras and dashcams, to attempt to identify a person in "uncontrolled, in-the-wild" environments.
Voters correctly remember that gas prices were cheaper when Trump was president. But that's unlikely to happen again, no matter what Trump might do if he wins a second term.
Ford reported April US sales that dipped slightly, but saw continued strength with hybrid and truck sales, highlighting the automaker’s pivot into those vehicles.
AI startups face a different set of challenges from your typical SaaS company. Seseri made it clear that just because you connect to some AI APIs, it doesn’t make you an AI company. “And by AI-native I don't mean you're slapping a shiny wrapper with some call to OpenAI or Anthropic with a user interface that’s human-like and you're an AI company,” Seseri said.
If you’re on the hunt for today’s best CD rates, we’ve narrowed down some of the top offers. Learn more about CD rates today and how to open an account.
Four months behind bars and a massive fine, that's what CZ is getting from the government for his crypto exchange's misdeeds. There's effort by some in crypto to promote the technology element of blockchains over their well-reported ability to generate new gambling opportunities. Chris Dixon of a16z frames this in 'computer v casino' terms, which I think is reasonable.
Apple is tweaking how it applies a new fee that can affect iOS developers in the European Union as it continues to configure its approach to the bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA): Developers of free apps will be able to avoid the fee entirely under changes it announced Thursday, which apply from today, while other developers earning under a certain revenue threshold will get longer before they have to pay Apple the fee. The core technology fee (CTF) remains opt-in for iOS developers in the region, as Apple continues to offer its standard business terms, but those wanting to take up new entitlements the DMA has required Apple to offer -- such as allowing sideloading of apps, third-party app stores, and support for alternative payment tech than Apple's own -- must agree to the set of business terms that include the CTF (as Apple calls it).