Business

ChatGPT-maker OpenAI roughly doubled its revenue in the first seven months of the year, reaching $12 billion in annualised revenue, the Information reported on Wednesday citing a source.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. OpenAI declined to comment.

The figure implies that OpenAI is generating $1 billion a month, the report said, adding that the company has around 700 million weekly active users for its ChatGPT products used by both consumers and business customers.

The Microsoft-backed company has increased its cash burn projection to roughly $8 billion in 2025, up $1 billion from the cash burn it projected earlier in the year, the Information said.

The firm has been lining up investors for the second $30 billion portion of its funding round, the report said, adding that shareholders Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global Management are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the round.

Investors, besides Japan’s SoftBank, are close to finalizing $7.5 billion in commitments to that second portion of funding, the report said.

The Japanese conglomerate’s total agreed investment in OpenAI stood at $32 billion since first investing in Autumn 2024.

Samsung Electronics reported on Thursday (July 31, 2025) a 55% drop in second-quarter operating profit as delays in high-bandwidth memory chip shipments and U.S. export curbs on advanced chip sales to China continued to drag on its key semiconductor division.

The world’s largest memory chip maker posted 4.7 trillion won ($3.37 billion) in operating profit for the April-June period.

The result was roughly in line with its earlier estimate of 4.6 trillion won, which had disappointed investors.

Its revenue rose 0.7% to 74.6 trillion won, in line with its earlier estimate of 74 trillion won.

Prolonged weakness in its financial performance has deepened investor concerns over the South Korean tech giant’s ability to catch up with smaller rivals in developing high-bandwidth memory chips sold to customers including Nvidia and used in artificial intelligence data centres.

Samsung reported earnings just days after Tesla said it had signed a $16.5 billion deal to source chips from the tech giant, a move that could bolster the South Korean company’s struggling foundry business that makes chips on contract.

The United States has imposed sanctions on at least half a dozen Indian companies accused of trading in Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals as part of broader action targeting 20 entities worldwide.

The U.S. Department of State announced the sanctions on Wednesday (July 30, 2025), alleging the Indian firms knowingly engaged in “significant transactions” for the purchase and marketing of Iranian petroleum products, violating American sanctions on Iran.

The sanctioned Indian companies include some of the country’s major petrochemical traders. Alchemical Solutions Private Limited faces the largest allegations, accused of importing Iranian petrochemical products worth over USD 84 million between January and December 2024.

Global Industrial Chemicals Limited is alleged to have purchased Iranian petrochemicals, including methanol, valued at over $51 million between July 2024 and January 2025. Jupiter Dye Chem Private Limited reportedly imported Iranian products, including toluene worth over $49 million, during the same period. Ramniklal S Gosalia and Company is accused of purchasing Iranian petrochemicals worth over $22 million, including methanol and toluene.

Persistent Petrochem Private Limited allegedly imported approximately $14 million worth of Iranian petrochemicals, particularly methanol, between October and December 2024. Kanchan Polymers is said to have purchased over $1.3 million worth of Iranian polyethene products.

Under the sanctions, all assets of these companies in the United States or controlled by U.S. persons are now frozen. American individuals and companies are prohibited from conducting business with the sanctioned entities. The action also blocks any entity that is 50% or more owned by the sanctioned companies.

The sanctions come as the U.S. continues its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, targeting what it calls the country’s “shadow fleet” of vessels and intermediary companies that help transport Iranian oil and petrochemicals globally. US officials say Iran uses revenue from oil and petrochemical exports to fund what Washington describes as “destabilising activities” in the Middle East and support for terrorist groups.

India has historically maintained trade relationships with Iran, though it has reduced Iranian oil imports significantly since 2019 following previous US sanctions.

The sanctioned companies can petition for removal from the U.S. Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals list. The U.S. government says the “ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behaviour.”

Companies wishing to contest their designation can submit petitions to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, according to a fact sheet shared by the US Department of State.

The sanctions also targeted companies in Turkey, the UAE, China, and Indonesia as part of what US officials describe as a global network facilitating Iranian oil and petrochemical trade.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to levy a 25% tariff as well as secondary sanctions on exports from Indiafrom August 1 would have severe impact on India’s gem and jewellery industry and also make Indian apparels up to 10% expensive than their competitors, the trade bodies said.

Kirit Bhansali, Chairman, Gem & Jewellery Exports Promotion Council (GJEPC) said, “If implemented, this move could have far-reaching repercussions across India’s economy, disrupting critical supply chains, stalling exports, and threatening thousands of livelihoods.”

“The Indian gem and jewellery sector, in particular, stands to be severely impacted. The U.S. is our single largest market, accounting for over $10 billion in exports—nearly 30% of our industry’s total global trade,” he said

“A blanket tariff of this magnitude will inflate costs, delay shipments, distort pricing, and place immense pressure on every part of the value chain — from small karigars to large manufacturers,” he said. He said such extreme measures undermine decades of economic cooperation and the U.S. administration must reconsider its decision. “We call on both governments to engage in constructive dialogue that safeguards bilateral trade and protects the millions of jobs that depend on it on both sides,” he added.

Commenting on the India-U.S. trade deal, Rahul Mehta — Chief Mentor, Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI), said, “Whilst the announced levy of 25% does come into effect, it will indeed be a surprising twist to our expectations on the way the trade talks were proceeding.”

“However, having seen the several about turns on the tariff front in the case of other countries, I would not press panic buttons right now. But, if the proposed terms do come into effect, It will make our products 7% to 10% more expensive than some of our competitors, and it will certainly hurt our apparel exports to the U.S.,” he said. “Fortunately, this set-back has come at the time when we have just signed an FTA with U.K., and proceeding rapidly with an FTA with EU. So, it is tough time, but not beyond our ability to face,” he added.

Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, ICRA, said the U.S. tariff will pose a headwind to India’s GDP growth.

“When the U.S. had initially imposed tariffs, we had lowered our forecast of India’s GDP expansion to 6.2% for FY26, presuming a tepid rise in exports and delay in private capex,” she said.

“The tariff (and penalty) now proposed by the US is higher than what we had anticipated, and is therefore likely to pose a headwind to India’s GDP growth. The extent of the downside will depend on the size of the penalties imposed,” she added.

On the first day of NSDL IPO’s bidding, employees demanded the most of the quota of shares allocated for them while qualified institutional buyers (QIB) showed tepid demand.

The listing-bound depository demanded 3.68 times the 85,000 shares that were reserved for bidding for employees of NSDL. QIBs demanded just 0.84 times the allocated one crore shares.

Retail investors, however, displayed enthusiasm, bidding 1.87 times the shares earmarked for them. The only other category that had demand stronger than that of employee reservation was the sub category of non institutional investors whose bid amount was between ₹2 lakh and ₹10 lakh, which was 3.97 times the number of shares they were allowed to bid.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Wednesday upheld the directions in its interim order against Gensol Engineering, noting that the promoters had failed to rebut the findings effectively.

The promoters of the company, Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi, had made submissions to the regulator denying the findings and provided reasons for the same.

However, they did not provide any supporting evidence for denial of the findings in the interim order, SEBI observed.

In its findings in the interim order, SEBI alleged that the promoters indulged in falsification of conduct letters to creditors, diverted funds borrowed from Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) for personal use, did not disclose layering and related party transactions, failed to report loan defaults and made misleading corporate disclosures. 

Mr. Puneet Jaggi had claimed that he was only a nominal director and was just signing documents for compliance.

“As Puneet Singh Jaggi appears to also be a direct beneficiary of funds diverted from Gensol through Wellray, his contention that he was not involved in the affairs of Gensol cannot be taken at face value. Accordingly, I am not inclined to accept the submissions of Puneet Singh Jaggi at this stage. However, the investigating authority in this matter shall look into this aspect and examine whether Puneet Singh Jaggi had any active role in the violations or not,” Kamlesh C. Varshney, wholetime member of SEBI said in the confirmatory order.

In the interim order, SEBI had directed that the promoters step down from the managerial position until further orders and be barred from dealing in securities market, and a forensic audit be conducted. The promoters had appealed to the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT).

“In view of the observations and findings recorded in the above paragraphs, I find that noticees have failed to effectively rebut the prima facie findings recorded in the interim order regarding falsification of conduct letters , submitted to CRAs and diversion/mis-utilisation of funds of Gensol by promoters and promoter related entities. Accordingly, the prima facie findings alleging violation of the provisions …still hold ground,” Mr. Varshney added.

The current observations “are tentative in nature and pending detailed investigation and forensic audit,” Mr. Varshney said in the order.

Bharat Forge Ltd. an advanced forging and precision engineering company, has announced to establish a new advanced ring mill dedicated to aerospace applications, following the signing of contracts with Pratt & Whitney, Canada for the supply of aerospace components.

The new ring mill will be set up as part of the company’s ongoing expansion of its aerospace manufacturing capabilities. This facility is designed to produce high-performance aerospace products for aero-engine applications.

Amit Kalyani, vice-chairman and joint managing director, Bharat Forge Ltd., said, “We are deepening our strategic relationship with Pratt & Whitney Canada through the establishment of this new ring mill. It not only reinforces our commitment to the global aerospace ecosystem but also marks a significant step in advancing India’s manufacturing capabilities in high-value aerospace components.”

The new ring mill is expected to be operational by 2026 and will support both domestic and international aerospace programs. It will also serve as a key contributor to India’s vision of becoming a global aerospace manufacturing hub.

Celonis, a Munich-based process mining and process intelligence firm that offers realistic business contexts to customers with the help of digital twins, says it is bullish on India’s growing global capability centre landscape: home to over 2,000 GCCs, accounting for 60% of GCCs round the globe.

Alexander Rinke, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Celonis said India was emerging as world’s epicentre of process-powered enterprise AI and Celonis was currently engaged with over 150 GCCs in India, including that of Dell Technologies, Wells Fargo, Mercedes-Benz, Siemens, Merck and ABB, to name a few.

“We have built strong partnerships with leading system integrators like TCS, PwC, EY, Deloitte, and Capgemini in India. We are also deeply invested in the academic ecosystem here. More than 130,000 learners across nearly 340 Indian universities have already engaged with our Celonis Academy. For us, India is not just a market but a hub of innovation, talent, and community,’‘ he told The Hindu.

He said process mining was a way to understand how businesses worked by extracting data from their systems by visualising how processes actually flow. Most companies have a general idea of how things should work, but the reality is often quite different. ‘‘Process mining reveals that gap. Process intelligence is built on that foundation. It combines the raw process data with business context to create what we call a living digital twin of your operations. This gives you full transparency and a shared language across departments to spot inefficiencies, remove friction, and take action,’‘ Mr. Rinke explained.

He said Celonis’ Process Intelligence Platform, through Process Mining, was capable of creating business context for its clients and offering them a digital twin of their business operations.

‘’It’s a system-agnostic, bias-free platform that provides a common language for understanding and improving how a business runs. It is the key enabler for companies to maximise the ROI from their AI investments,’‘ Mr. Rinke claimed.

Mr. Rinke was in India at the opening of Celonis’ Garage, an innovation hub in Bengaluru which collaborates with ecosystem partners comprising customers, technology partners, startups and academic institutions to identify, validate and incubate ideas that can evolve into scalable solutions for global enterprises.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL) for the first quarter ended June 30, 2025 reported 8% fall in consolidated net profit at 1,369 crore.

The company’s revenue during the quarter also dropped 5.36% to Rs.16,413 crore from Rs.17,344 crore a year ago. 

The company witnessed accelerated exports growth and volumes increased 13% on YoY basis, while domestic growth remained subdued, amid macro challenges, the company said in a filing.

Unsoo Kim, Managing Director, HMIL said, “We continued our stated strategy of “Quality of Growth” in the first quarter of FY26 with balance between domestic & exports, market share and profitability.”

“This strategy helped us to sustain strong EBITDA margin of 13.3% during the quarter, despite tough macro-economic environment,” he said.

“Moving forward, we anticipate gradual recovery in domestic demand sentiments, driven by onset of monsoon & festive season coupled with government policy measures, while on the exports front, we are confident to maintain a positive momentum, in line with our growth commitments,” he added.