Daily Tech Digest - October 31, 2025

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Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

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OpenAI Expands Product Portfolio and Geographic Reach

OpenAI launched several significant updates this week, including Agent Mode in ChatGPT that enables users to delegate research, planning, and execution tasks directly within the browser. The feature is currently available in preview for Plus, Pro, and Business users. The company also introduced GPT-4.1 and GPT-4.1 mini models, alongside a new GitHub integration for deep research that allows developers to analyze code repositories.¹²³

Geographically, OpenAI announced a data residency program for Asian countries including India, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea, following a similar European launch in February. The company also revealed “OpenAI for Countries,” a program aimed at developing local AI infrastructure and customizing products for specific language and regional needs.²

Google Gemini Achieves Rapid User Growth

Google’s Gemini chatbot has reached 650 million monthly active users, marking a 44% increase in just a few months. While still trailing ChatGPT’s 800 million weekly active users, Gemini’s growth is particularly strong among younger demographics, driven by its viral image editor Nano Banana. Google announced a partnership with Reliance Jio to provide free 18-month access to its Gemini AI Pro plan for select Indian users, valued at Rs 35,100. The plan includes Gemini 2.5 Pro, 2TB storage, and advanced AI tools.⁴⁵⁶

Tech Giants Double Down on AI Infrastructure Spending

Major technology companies announced unprecedented capital expenditure increases for AI infrastructure. Google expects to spend $91-93 billion in 2025, up from $85 billion previously forecast. Microsoft’s spending will surge 74% to $34.9 billion this year, while Meta’s expenditure reached $19 billion, surpassing analyst estimates of $18.4 billion. Amazon projects 2025 expenses of $125 billion with plans for further increases in 2026.⁷

Machine Learning Research Advances

Researchers developed a machine learning framework for modeling ultrafast vibrational energy flow in molecular systems, successfully incorporating anharmonic mode coupling and non-Markovian dissipation through spectral distribution functions. The methodology demonstrates broad applicability across different molecular systems and time scales.⁸

Cloud Computing & Infrastructure

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Microsoft Azure Suffers Major Global Outage

Azure cloud services experienced a widespread outage on October 29, caused by a configuration error in Azure Front Door that triggered cascading failures across multiple regions. The disruption affected over a dozen services including Azure Databricks, Azure SQL Database, Azure Virtual Desktop, and Microsoft 365. The outage lasted several hours before Microsoft restored services through a rollback to a stable configuration. The incident occurred just hours before Microsoft’s Q3 earnings announcement.⁹¹⁰¹¹

AWS Emerges as Sole Bidder for UK Tax Agency Project

Amazon Web Services remains the only supplier competing for HMRC’s £500 million datacenter migration project after rivals exited the competition. This development comes shortly after Parliament scrutinized HMRC’s reliance on AWS.¹²

Equinix Expands Datacenter Footprint

Colocation giant Equinix acquired a plot in Hertfordshire where DC01UK secured planning permission for a hyperscale campus, planning a £3.9 billion investment. Beale Infrastructure announced a new $1 billion datacenter campus in Tulsa County, Oklahoma.¹³¹²

Hardware & Semiconductors

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Nvidia Becomes World’s First $5 Trillion Company

Nvidia reached a $5 trillion market valuation, achieving the milestone just three months after hitting $4 trillion. The company unveiled the Vera Rubin AI Superchip, succeeding the GB200/GB300 platform, built on 72-rack scale with six trillion transistors. The base system is 100 times more powerful than the older DGX-1, with mass production slated for the second half of 2026.¹⁴¹⁵

Samsung-Nvidia Partnership Intensifies

Samsung Electronics announced plans to build an “AI Megafactory” deploying more than 50,000 Nvidia GPUs to embed AI throughout its semiconductor manufacturing flow. The facility will integrate AI across design, process, equipment, operations, and quality control. Samsung is also in close discussions with Nvidia to supply next-generation HBM4 chips, with the HBM4 launch planned for next year featuring processing speeds of 11 Gbps.^16171819

Hyundai Motor Group Partners with Nvidia

Hyundai Motor Group announced a deepened collaboration with Nvidia to accelerate innovation in autonomous vehicles, smart factories, and robotics, involving approximately $3 billion in investment. The partnership aims to enable integrated AI model training, validation, and deployment using 50,000 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs.²⁰²¹

Data Storage Companies Surge on AI Demand

Seagate and Western Digital shares have outperformed the broader market significantly in 2025, both up more than 200% year-to-date, powered by staggering demand for hard drives in AI infrastructure buildout.²²

Apple Releases M5-Powered Products

Apple launched refreshed versions of the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, and 14-inch MacBook Pro, all featuring the new M5 chip. The MacBook Pro features extraordinarily fast storage read and write speeds, with the M5 achieving 6,000+ MB/s across both read and write speeds—2.5x faster on average than the M4. The Vision Pro now supports third-party peripherals, including the Logitech Muse stylus and PlayStation VR2 controllers.²³²⁴

Cybersecurity

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Windows Server Update Service Under Attack

At least 50 organizations have been impacted by attacks targeting CVE-2025-59287, a critical vulnerability in Windows Server Update Service, with most victims located in the United States. Microsoft issued an emergency out-of-band patch after its initial mid-October security update failed to provide adequate protection. Google Threat Intelligence Group linked the exploitation to hacker group UNC6512.²⁵

WordPress Plugin Vulnerability Exposes Sensitive Data

A serious vulnerability (CVE-2025-11705) was discovered in the Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall plugin installed on more than 100,000 WordPress sites. The flaw allows authenticated users with subscriber-level access to read any file on the server, including wp-config.php, potentially exposing database credentials and authentication keys. A patched version 4.23.83 was released on October 15.²⁶

Tenable Report Highlights AI Security Challenges

Tenable’s “The State of Cloud and AI Security 2025” report found that 82% of organizations operate hybrid environments and 63% use two or more cloud providers. While 55% are using AI and 34% are testing it, about a third of those using AI have suffered an AI-related breach. The report emphasizes that security strategy has not kept pace with infrastructure and innovation evolution.²⁷

India Announces Project Triveni

Sysman Computers, led by cybersecurity expert Dr. Rakesh Goyal, announced readiness to launch Project Triveni, an AI-powered automated solution designed to find vulnerabilities and provide auto-rectification for web applications. The system aims to eliminate persistent hacking threats through AI-based cyber safety.²⁸

Space Technology

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China Launches Shenzhou 21 Mission

China successfully launched the Shenzhou 21 spacecraft carrying three astronauts to the Tiangong space station on October 31. The Long March 2F rocket lifted off at 11:44 p.m. Beijing time, with the spacecraft expected to dock approximately 3.5 hours after liftoff using a fast automated rendezvous mode.²⁹

SpaceX Marks 100th Starlink Launch of 2025

SpaceX is set to launch its 100th Starlink mission of the year on October 31, demonstrating the company’s aggressive deployment schedule for its satellite internet constellation.³⁰

Intuitive Machines Advances Nuclear Power Development

Intuitive Machines received an $8.2 million contract extension from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory for the Stirling Technology Space Research Experiment (START), aimed at advancing compact nuclear power conversion technology for spacecraft and lunar infrastructure.³¹

Indian Space Startup Raises Funding

Cosmoserve Space, a Hyderabad-based startup developing autonomous robotic spacecraft for space debris removal, raised $3.17 million in pre-seed funding. The round was led by Alan Rutledge with participation from AUM Ventures and Shakti VC, with Ram Shriram (early Google investor) joining as a key investor.³²

Quantum Computing

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Google Announces Quantum Echoes Breakthrough

Google demonstrated the first-ever verifiable quantum advantage running the out-of-order time correlator (OTOC) algorithm, called Quantum Echoes, on its Willow quantum chip. The algorithm runs 13,000 times faster on Willow than the best classical algorithm on one of the world’s fastest supercomputers. Google also demonstrated a “molecular ruler” technique for measuring longer distances than current methods using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance data.³³

IonQ Achieves 99.99% Gate Fidelity

IonQ reported achieving 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity using Electronic Qubit Control (EQC) technology, marking the first time a quantum computing company has crossed the “four-nines” benchmark. The result surpasses the previous record of 99.97% and is intended to accelerate IonQ’s path toward fault-tolerant systems, with 256-qubit systems scheduled for demonstration in 2026.³⁴

Nvidia Introduces NVQLink

Nvidia announced NVQLink, an open system architecture for tightly coupling GPU computing with quantum processors to build accelerated quantum supercomputers. The system connects to nine U.S. national laboratories including Brookhaven, Fermi, Lawrence Berkeley, Los Alamos, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Pacific Northwest, and Sandia National Laboratories.³⁵

Startup Funding & IPOs

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India Records Busiest IPO Month Ever

India’s primary market registered its busiest month for mainboard IPOs on record, with 14 IPOs collectively seeking more than Rs 46,000 crore ($5.5 billion) in October. Tata Capital raised over Rs 15,512 crore while LG Electronics India mobilized Rs 11,607 crore. Lenskart Solutions’ Rs 7,278 crore IPO opened on October 31 and was fully subscribed on Day 1.^36373839

Notable Startup Funding Rounds

SalarySe, a Gurugram-based fintech platform, raised $11.3 million in Series A funding led by Flourish Ventures. Jupiter, a neobanking startup, raised Rs 115 crore from existing investors. Lyzr AI’s “AI agent Sam” raised $8 million without traditional pitch decks or investor calls. IndustrialMind.ai, founded by former Tesla manufacturing AI team members, announced a $1.2 million pre-seed round. Point AI raised $5.3 million led by Yali Capital. IntrCity SmartBus raised Rs 250 crore in Series D led by A91 Partners. Proptech startup Openhouse raised $2 million in seed funding.⁴⁰⁴¹⁴²

Polygraf AI Closes $9.5M Seed Round

Polygraf AI raised $9.5 million in seed funding led by Allegis Capital to build the next generation of enterprise AI security.⁴³

5G & Telecommunications

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Nokia and CNT Launch Ecuador’s First 5G Network

Nokia and Ecuador’s national telecommunications operator CNT officially launched the country’s first commercial 5G network, delivering speeds up to 1.5 Gbps—10 times faster than 4G. The deployment includes 188 5G sites in Guayaquil and other regions operating in the N78, 3.5 GHz band.⁴⁴

Jio 5G Approaches 50% of Mobile Base

Reliance Jio closed the quarter with 234 million 5G users, approaching half of its 506.4 million total mobile base. The company posted quarterly revenue of INR 426.5 billion (up 14.9% year-on-year) and average revenue per user rose 8.4% to INR 211.40. Jio’s fixed wireless access service AirFiber more than tripled year-on-year to 9.5 million subscribers.⁴⁵

Finland Tightens Huawei Ban

Finland plans to exclude high-risk vendors including Huawei Technologies from a larger portion of its 5G network, widening the ban from just the core to include 5G base stations and a range of 5G core functions.⁴⁶

Robotics & Automation

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ABB Sells Robotics Division to SoftBank

ABB signed an agreement to divest its robotics division to SoftBank Group for an enterprise value of $5.375 billion, abandoning earlier plans to spin off the business separately.⁴⁷

Humanoid Robotics Advances in Manufacturing

Humanoid and Schaeffler completed a proof-of-concept for bin picking with their pre-alpha robot, demonstrating adaptable AI models that generalize skills across varying part types. The companies plan to deploy a significant number of robots across Schaeffler’s global footprint, with the next phase featuring Humanoid’s alpha robot with increased payload capacity and enhanced AI.⁴⁸

1X Technologies Launches Neo Robot

1X Technologies unveiled Neo, a 5-foot-6-inch humanoid housekeeper available for pre-order at $20,000 (with a $200 deposit), with expected delivery in 2026.⁴⁹

Cryptocurrency & Blockchain

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Bitcoin Breaks October Winning Streak

Bitcoin is on track for a monthly loss in October for the first time since 2018, snapping a seven-year streak of gains that had earned the month a lucky reputation among cryptocurrency traders. The leading cryptocurrency is projected to experience a drop of nearly 5% this month. Bitcoin plummeted to lows near $104,000 during October 10-11 following U.S. President Trump’s tariff announcements.⁵⁰

Altcoin ETFs Launch in U.S.

Three new crypto spot exchange-traded funds began trading in U.S. markets on October 28. Canary launched ETFs for Hedera’s HBAR token and Litecoin, while Bitwise’s spot Solana staking ETF (BSOL) saw $69.5 million in net inflows on its first trading day. Through the first three days, BSOL attracted approximately $150 million in inflows, making it the top ETF launch of 2025.⁵¹

Enterprise Technology

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Meta Announces Largest-Ever Bond Sale

Meta Platforms will raise at least $25 billion through investment-grade bonds to fund AI infrastructure, following a $27 billion private bond transaction earlier in the month. The sale is expected to be among the largest U.S. corporate bond offerings of 2025.⁵²

Microsoft’s AI Spending Reaches Record Levels

Microsoft’s infrastructure spending hit a record $34.9 billion in Q3 to meet AI demand. CFO Amy Hood highlighted the massive investment in an internal memo, though investor concerns are growing about return on investment.⁶

Apple Achieves Record Revenue

Apple crossed the $100 billion revenue threshold for the first time in a single quarter, reporting $102.5 billion for the July-September period, marking an 8% year-over-year increase. iPhone revenue reached $49.03 billion, with iPhone 17 series sales outpacing iPhone 16 by 14% in the first 10 days of availability. Apple hit an all-time revenue record in India driven by strong iPhone 17 demand.^{5354 555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110}