By Team Ys
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Google parent Alphabet hit a market capitalisation of $3 trillion for the first time on Monday, Reuters reports. Optimism around artificial intelligence and a favourable antitrust ruling catapulted the company into the trillion-dollar club, which currently includes Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia.
Moving on: how about a chat with God?
While millions are turning to chatbots for spiritual guidance, nothing can be more direct than ‘ChatwithGod’. For the most part, however, AI chatbots point people to religious scriptures and do not claim to provide a direct link with the divine.
Elsewhere, Pope Leo XIV has criticised how the salaries of chief executives dwarf those of their employees, singling out Tesla’s trillion-dollar compensation package for Elon Musk, CNN reports.
Perhaps technology companies need a moral compass, which brings us to–drumroll–Center for the Alignment of AI Alignment Centers. In AI research, alignment refers to the process of ensuring AI development fits in with human values.
The organisation, also called CAAAC, purports to coordinate thousands of AI alignment researchers into “one final AI centre singularity”, The Verge reports.
Although appearing legitimate at first glance, the satirical website has hilarious word salads, including a job for people who believe “AGI will annihilate all humans in the next six months”.
In today’s newsletter, we will talk about
Pine Labs turns a profit
Building a design brand without funding
A platform for mid-career job seekers
Here’s your trivia for today: Which Robert Louis Stevenson novel was originally published under the title The Sea-Cook?
Pine Labs turns a profit
Digital payments startup Pine Labs has hit profitability for the first time just as the payments company prepares to head to the bourses with India’s biggest fintech initial public offering (IPO) this year.
Pine Labs posted its maiden net profit of Rs 44.97 crore in FY25, swinging from a loss of Rs 182.31 crore a year earlier, according to company disclosures citing consolidated financial results.
Key takeaways:
Total income rose 25.5% to Rs 1,735.1 crore in FY25 from Rs 1,382.6 crore a year earlier. Meanwhile, expenses edged up 3.3% to Rs 1,676.8 crore compared with Rs 1,622.8 crore in FY24.
Operationally, in the nine months ended December 31, 2024, Pine Labs processed Rs 7,53,105 crore in gross transaction value across 3.97 billion transactions, serving 915,731 merchants, 666 brands and enterprises, and 164 financial institutions.
The documents also affirmed that Pine Labs Ltd, which was incorporated as a holding company in Singapore, was merged into the Indian entity effective June 6, 2025.
Building a design brand without funding
In a consumer landscape dominated by D2C brands chasing celebrity endorsements, VC rounds, and aggressive ad spends, Mumbai-based Freedom Tree has quietly built a Rs 15+ crore lifestyle brand by sticking to its core—design, experience, and loyalty.
Freedom Tree offers a full lifestyle range—furniture, textiles, décor, and apparel—designed in-house and crafted in small artisan workshops and handcrafted production houses across India.
Mood retail:
The brand works closely with specialists in traditional crafts—woodwork from the Northwest, metal, glass, and ceramics from the Northeast, weaves from the South, and furniture finishing and textiles in Mumbai.
Unlike typical showrooms, Freedom Tree’s stores are curated as immersive design stories. The Bengaluru flagship, for instance, is housed in a restored 1960s home, layered with light, colour, and texture. It operates seven stores.
Freedom Tree’s aesthetic is distinct—print-forward, colour-rich, and rooted in Indian craft traditions. Every collection is built around a seasonal narrative, blending cultural cues with contemporary design.
A platform for mid-career job seekers
Founded in 2024 by Kumar Apurva, Outspark is building a “career operating system” that helps professionals with everything from personalised resumes to LinkedIn branding and job-hunting through AI.
Outspark offers resume optimisation, LinkedIn makeovers, AI-driven branding, and soon, a personalised job agent. The platform creates hyper-personalised resumes and profiles, with each version tailored to the specific role.
News & updates
Cloud deal: CoreWeave has signed a new order with Nvidia with an initial value of $6.3 billion, which guarantees that Nvidia will purchase any residual cloud capacity not sold to customers.
TikTok: The US and China reached a framework deal on short-video app TikTok as part of broader talks on tariffs and economic policy that concluded in Madrid on Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
Award: Fifteen-year-old Owen Cooper has become the youngest performer to win an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or TV movie, thanks to his critically acclaimed performance as a troubled teen in Adolescence.
Which Robert Louis Stevenson novel was originally published under the title The Sea-Cook?
Answer: Treasure Island
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