India adjusted its startup rules this week, extending the period for deep tech companies to be treated as startups to 20 years and raising the revenue threshold for specific benefits to 3 billion rupees (about $33.12 million), according to TechCrunch. The move aims to align policy timelines with the long development cycles typical of science- and engineering-led businesses. In other tech news, NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo invested in prediction market Kalshi, New York lawmakers proposed a pause on new data centers, and Benchmark raised $225 million to double down on AI chipmaker Cerebras.
The Indian government's changes to its startup framework are part of an effort to build a long-horizon development ecosystem, according to TechCrunch. The previous revenue threshold for startup-specific tax, grant, and regulatory benefits was 1 billion rupees (around $11.04 million).
Meanwhile, NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo announced Friday that he had joined prediction market Kalshi as a shareholder, making him the first NBA player to invest directly in the company, according to TechCrunch. "The internet is full of opinions. I decided it was time to make some of my own," said Antetokounmpo in a social media post. However, the announcement was met with criticism on social media, with some users citing potential conflicts of interest. The NBAs recent collective bargaining agreement allows players to advertise and take stakes of up to 1% in sports betting companies, as long as they are not directly involved in the operation.
In New York, lawmakers introduced a bill that would impose a moratorium of at least three years on permits for new data centers, according to TechCrunch. The bill's prospects are uncertain, but New York is at least the sixth state to consider pausing construction of new data centers. Both Democrats and Republicans have expressed concerns about the impact those data centers might have on surrounding communities, as tech companies plan to spend increasing amounts of money to build AI infrastructure.
Finally, AI chipmaker Cerebras Systems announced it raised $1 billion in fresh capital at a valuation of $23 billion, a nearly threefold increase from its $8.1 billion valuation just six months earlier, according to TechCrunch. Benchmark Capital, one of the company's earliest backers, invested at least $225 million in the latest round. Benchmark first invested in Cerebras when it led the startup's $27 million Series A in 2016.
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