California-based startup Friend has launched Friend 2.0, an upgraded version of its AI-powered wearable pendant designed to act as a personal companion and help reduce loneliness. It comes with a microphone, touch-sensitive haptics, reactive lighting and currently requires an iPhone to work. Each pendant has a fixed name, voice and personality and is powered by OpenAI's latest AI models.

Japanese yen recently hit a 40-year low against the US dollar, prompting Washington to support the currency for the first time in a decade. However, economists expect the yen's weakness to have only a limited direct impact on the Indian rupee, Moneycontrol reported. They said the rupee is influenced more by domestic factors, the US dollar and crude oil prices.

AI startup Simile raised $200 million in a Series B funding round, boosting its valuation to $2 billion, a 20-fold increase in just five months. The company had emerged from stealth in February with a $100 million funding round. Simile develops AI-powered synthetic users that simulate human behaviour, enabling companies to test products, marketing campaigns and policies before launch.

Comcast is facing a lawsuit after an ex-employee alleged that staff with lowest monthly sales at a Connecticut store were tied to chairs and hit with cream pies on a manager's orders. The incidents were allegedly filmed and used to improve sales performance. Management allegedly tracked sales rankings on a whiteboard, where employees' names reportedly appeared alongside emojis.

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued prediction market platform Kalshi for running an illegal gambling business without a state licence. She said such platforms could promote problem gambling, including among people under 21, while putting users' financial, emotional and physical well-being at risk. New York is seeking to halt Kalshi's operations and pursue penalties of up to $36 billion.

India attracted $40.81 billion in foreign inflows within two months of the RBI's measures to support the rupee and encourage overseas fundraising, the latest data showed. Most of the inflows, $36.7 billion, came through foreign currency non-resident (FCNR) deposits. The RBI also received funds via external commercial borrowings and overseas foreign currency borrowings by authorised lenders.

Alibaba Co-founder and Chairman Joseph Tsai and his wife, Clara Wu, have decided to divorce after 30 years of marriage. The couple, who have three children, said the decision was mutual and would not affect their business interests. They own a 1.4% stake in Alibaba and control an additional 0.5% through their foundation, according to Bloomberg.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been trolled after suggesting a "cool use case" for ChatGPT Work. He said parents could connect family calendars with their children's interests so ChatGPT generates a daily podcast for school drives, covering upcoming events, birthdays and news. An X user responded, "What if you just talked to your children?"

OpenAI President Greg Brockman said many OpenAI employees link ChatGPT with the workplace communication platform Slack. "People really don't like when a co-worker's ChatGPT contacts them asking for help with a task, even when they'd be perfectly happy doing that same work if asked by that co-worker," Brockman said. "Reinforces how much people care about human relationships," he added.

Japanese yen recently hit its lowest level in 40 years in part because of a trade strategy called 'carry trade'. Bank of Japan's near-zero interest rates are lucrative compared to interest rates in other countries. Thus, currency traders engaging in 'carry trade' borrow yen at low costs and invest the funds in other currencies and assets offering higher yields.