Centre released an additional ₹1.09 lakh crore in tax devolution (the sharing of central tax revenues with states) as an advance instalment ahead of the regular monthly transfer due on August 10. The instalment is meant to give states more room to boost capital and development spending, the Finance Ministry said. Uttar Pradesh received the largest share at ₹19,208 crore.

Leopold Aschenbrenner, ex-OpenAI researcher often called 'AI Prophet', is set to marry Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's Chief of Staff Avital Balwit over this weekend. He is getting married days after selling a majority of his $45-billion public stocks, which dropped his holdings to $10 billion. Aschenbrenner has reportedly offered one-on-one phone calls to investors during his honeymoon week.

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) recorded its highest-ever monthly transaction volume in July, according to the latest NPCI data. Transaction volume rose 22% year-on-year to 23.66 billion, while transaction value increased 19% to ₹29.88 lakh crore. Transaction value had hit a record ₹29.90 lakh crore in May before dipping to ₹28.92 lakh crore in June.

California-based startup Satyress has unveiled Threehalves, a horned robot equipped with a chainsaw designed to help and rescue humans during disasters. It is around 7 feet tall and features a four-legged centaur chassis, a humanoid torso and arms that can switch between tools like chainsaws and wrenches. It will be remotely operated by a human using joysticks, cameras and sensors.

BJP's Amit Malviya said AAP's Arvind Kejriwal wants petrol to be sold at ₹84/litre or less, irrespective of international crude prices. "If he truly believes that...he should start with Punjab...where his own party is in power," he added. Malviya said Punjab could reduce petrol prices from ₹105.24 to around ₹86.25/litre by waiving VAT, which is under the state government's control.

Extreme heat is costing India and other South Asian countries the equivalent of nearly 31 million full-time jobs each year, according to the latest World Bank report. Without adaptation, rising temperatures could reduce the region's GDP by nearly 7% by 2050. The report also found that heatwaves can cause informal workers to lose up to 40% of their earnings.

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.