Good afternoon! Here’s your quick roundup of the latest developments across smartphones, startups, employment, artificial intelligence and the global tech ecosystem.
What’s New Today: Apple’s upcoming iPhone 18 Pro Max could feature a 2nm A20 Pro chip, promising better performance and power efficiency. AI-native lending platform Rezolv has raised $12.5 million in a Series A round led by Norwest. India’s festive season is expected to generate up to 2.7 lakh temporary and gig jobs. Meanwhile, Trump-backed World Liberty Financial is collaborating with WorldClaw, a platform offering access to AI models from several Chinese companies facing US restrictions. Google has also made visible AI watermarks optional while retaining invisible SynthID identification. (NDTV Profit)
iPhone 18 Pro Max could feature a 2nm A20 Pro chip.
Rezolv raises $12.5 million in Series A funding.
Festive hiring may create up to 2.7 lakh gig jobs.
Trump-backed World Liberty works with AI platform WorldClaw.
Google makes visible AI watermarks optional.
Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro Max could bring a major performance upgrade with the reported A20 Pro chip, potentially manufactured using TSMC’s 2nm process. Leaks suggest the chip could deliver around 15% higher performance and up to 30% better power efficiency. The smartphone may also feature a 6.9-inch LTPO+ display, a smaller Dynamic Island, Apple’s C2 5G modem and a variable-aperture 48MP main camera. Reports also point to a battery capacity of around 5,500mAh or more. The iPhone 18 Pro Max is expected to launch in September 2026, although Apple has not officially confirmed these specifications.
Mumbai-based lend-tech company Rezolv has raised $12.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Norwest, with participation from Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India and existing investor 3one4 Capital. Founded in 2024 by former Kissht founders Karan Mehta and Sonali Jindal, Rezolv develops AI-driven software for banks and NBFCs. The fresh capital will support AI capabilities across sales, risk assessment, underwriting and debt collection. The company says its platform works across more than 12 million loan accounts and handles 6.5 million minutes of borrower conversations each month.
India’s 2026 festive season could generate between 2.5 lakh and 2.7 lakh temporary and gig jobs, according to Adecco India. Hiring is projected to increase 15-20% year-on-year, driven by e-commerce, logistics, quick commerce, organised retail and BFSI. Around 45% of workforce demand is expected from tier-II and tier-III cities, while temporary wages could rise 12-15% in metros and 8-10% in smaller cities. Retail sales associates, customer support executives, field sales professionals, merchandisers and manufacturing operators are expected to remain in demand.
Trump-backed World Liberty Financial is collaborating with Hong Kong-based WorldClaw, an AI platform offering access to models developed by Chinese technology companies. Reuters found that 43 of the 90 models listed on WorldClaw were developed by companies including Alibaba, Baidu and Z.ai, some of which face US government restrictions or national-security scrutiny. WorldClaw also offers models from US companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic. The platform accepts World Liberty’s USD1 stablecoin, while the Trump family owns a stake in World Liberty. Reuters noted that it could not establish the financial details of the arrangement or the amount earned by the Trump family.
Google has introduced an option allowing users to remove visible watermarks from AI-generated images, videos, and music created through supported Google AI tools. However, the company says invisible SynthID watermarks and C2PA metadata will continue to provide machine-readable identification. The move gives creators more control over how AI-generated content appears, but it could make immediate identification harder for ordinary viewers. For journalists and fact-checkers, the development increases the importance of provenance information, metadata, reverse-image searches and independent source verification.