Current Affairs - Technology

Accenture’s specialised AI business, Faculty, will lead the strategic partnership with Anthropic to evaluate and red-team advanced AI models. Announced on September 20, 2026, the partnership involves a combined investment of $2 billion over five years, with both companies contributing at least $1 billion each. The initiative will focus on alignment assessments, testing model safeguards, monitoring potential risks from AI agents and publishing reports on unexpected or concerning model behaviour. The partnership also includes an independent “vantage point” system, allowing evaluators to work inside AI companies with employee-level access to strengthen AI safety and reliability.

Ahmedabad was the location where the NIELIT–Infineon Centre of Excellence (CoE) on Semiconductor Manufacturing was inaugurated on September 2026. The facility was established through a collaboration between the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) and Infineon Technologies. It focuses on backend semiconductor manufacturing, particularly Assembly, Testing, Marking, and Packaging (ATMP). The centre is designed to provide industry-oriented training to diploma holders, engineers, and technicians. Infineon Technologies supplied eight units of industry-grade manufacturing equipment. The initiative supports the India Semiconductor Mission by developing a skilled workforce for future semiconductor and OSAT facilities.

Amazon partnered with Qualcomm in September 2026 to develop multiple generations of customised AI chips for AWS data centres. The collaboration focuses primarily on AI inference and large-scale data centre infrastructure. The companies also plan to develop high-performance optical connectivity solutions supporting speeds of up to 1.6T, incorporating Qualcomm’s SerDes and optical digital signal processing technologies. Qualcomm will use Amazon Bedrock to manage electronic design automation workloads, with the broader goal of reducing chip design cycle times. The partnership represents Qualcomm’s strategic expansion from its long-standing mobile processing expertise into large-scale artificial intelligence computing infrastructure.

Dhruva Space was allocated 8 satellites under the private-sector component of the SBS-3 programme, a strategic satellite-based surveillance initiative. The 52-satellite constellation will be deployed in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geostationary Orbit (GEO) between 2027 and 2030. ISRO will build 21 satellites, while private companies will manufacture 31 satellites. Antaris has been allocated 15 satellites, Pixxel 8 satellites, and Dhruva Space 8 satellites. Headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana, Dhruva Space is an Indian full-stack space-engineering startup involved in developing satellite systems and related space technologies.

GalaxEye, a Bengaluru-based space technology startup, became the first Indian startup to receive a US patent for its OptoSAR satellite imaging technology. The technology synchronises optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors to capture spatially and temporally matched Earth observation data. It combines visual spectral information from optical sensors with SAR’s ability to operate during both day and night and in various weather conditions. GalaxEye plans to develop a constellation of 30 satellites over five years, with applications in national security, agriculture, infrastructure, maritime intelligence, and disaster management. Its first satellite, Mission Drishti, was launched on May 3, 2026.