Reliance

• The U.S. Supreme Court concluded a historic term characterized by landmark opinions and a heavy reliance on the "shadow docket" for emergency rulings. • Key legal battles focused on the intersection of gun rights and property rights, specifically through cases such as US v. Hemani and Wolford v. Lopez. • The term's decisions are significant as they address critical national issues, including the definition of U.S. citizenship and the impact of political policies on judicial rulings.

• U.S. companies are increasingly adopting affordable Chinese AI models to reduce costs, with weekly usage on the Openrouter platform peaking at 46% since February 8. • This trend marks a significant surge from the previous year's 11% average and a low of 4.5% during the first half of 2025, with startups like Lindy fully integrating Chinese tech. • The shift highlights a growing American reliance on foreign AI infrastructure, prompting China to consider restricting access to its most advanced models.

• Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is developing its own proprietary AI chip specifically designed for AI inference, according to a Reuters report. • The initiative aims to reduce the company's strategic dependence on hardware provided by industry giants Nvidia and Huawei. • This move is significant as it highlights China's broader push for semiconductor self-sufficiency amidst ongoing global trade restrictions and chip shortages.

• Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met in New Delhi to strengthen economic and strategic ties. • The two leaders agreed to deepen cooperation across critical sectors, specifically focusing on energy, technology, and defense. • This partnership is strategically designed to reduce both nations' economic reliance on China and enhance regional security.

• The U.S. and its allies are exploring strategies to reduce global economic reliance on the Strait of Hormuz following lessons learned from conflicts with Iran. • Proposed measures include increasing strategic oil stockpiles and constructing new pipelines to bypass the waterway's potential for disruption. • Alternatively, some analysts suggest that economic integration, such as a memorandum of understanding to raise $300 billion for Iran's reconstruction, could incentivize cooperation.

• Mukesh Ambani, the 69-year-old chairman of Reliance Industries (RIL), announced that the transfer of day-to-day management to his successors is "almost complete." • His three children—Akash, Isha, and Anant Ambani—have each served three years on the RIL board and currently lead key business verticals. • This transition is critical for ensuring leadership stability and continuity within the energy-to-education conglomerate as it scales its operations.

Depending on AI can also potentially decrease the ability to discern misinformation, research saysA new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is the latest research to find that relying too much on chatbots can diminish critical-thinking skills, and potentially decrease our ability to discern misinformation for ourselves.As AI tools are becoming more sophisticated and accessible, manipulated images and misleading headlines are becoming more common. AI can be part of the solution, and has proved useful in helping users identify fake content – but there’s a cost to using it this way, the new research suggests. An over-dependence on AI to help figure out what’s real on the internet can lead to trouble making those judgments. Continue reading...

• Reliance Industries is holding its 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM), with a primary focus on the much-anticipated IPO filing for Jio with SEBI. • The company aims to disrupt AI economics through "Reliance Intelligence," while also providing updates on its new energy projects and future strategic roadmap. • Key leadership roles will be highlighted, with Akash Ambani discussing Jio, Isha Ambani covering Reliance Retail Ventures, and Anant Ambani detailing the energy business.

• European policymakers and tech executives are meeting at the G7 summit and VivaTech conference in Paris this week to address the region's lack of AI sovereignty. • The discussions center on Europe's heavy reliance on American AI technology and the scarcity of viable local alternatives. • This urgency follows recent U.S. efforts to tighten restrictions on technology exports, highlighting the vulnerability of Europe's digital infrastructure.

• French intelligence services are ending their partnership with US-based AI firm Palantir due to concerns over an overreliance on American technology. • To reduce this dependency and bolster national security, Paris plans to invest an additional $760 million of public funds into developing France's own domestic AI capabilities. • This move highlights a growing trend of European nations seeking "digital sovereignty" to avoid vulnerability to foreign software and data control.

• Europe has published a new strategic plan aimed at achieving "tech sovereignty" to reduce its heavy reliance on foreign technology providers. • The initiative faces significant practical hurdles, including high costs for switching systems, a lack of competitive local alternatives, and critical shortages in cybersecurity and technical skills. • National discrepancies are hindering a unified approach, as seen in Sweden's cautious cloud computing strategy which balances dependency reduction with practical limitations.

• France's domestic intelligence agency (DGSI) is ending its contract with American AI firm Palantir to reduce strategic dependence on U.S. technology. • Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced a 655 million euro ($760 million) public investment to develop France's own sovereign AI capabilities. • The move follows a recent decision by Washington to restrict non-American users from accessing Anthropic's Fable model, sparking fears that the U.S. could "turn off the access tap."

• Several major Indian companies, including Infosys, Reliance Industries, Hindalco, Tata Motors PV, and CG Power, have been identified as top stock picks by various brokerages. • These stocks are currently under high surveillance and are recommended for traders and investors heading into the current trading session. • This movement highlights shifting market sentiment and analyst confidence in these specific industrial and technology sectors.

• The European Union has proposed a new sovereignty package designed to reduce its strategic dependence on non-EU suppliers for critical technologies, including semiconductors, AI, and cloud computing. • Key measures include the creation of Experience and Acceleration Centres to coordinate AI adoption across member states and the implementation of a framework to assess cloud and AI sovereignty. • The initiative emphasizes the "Open Source Strategy," which aims to increase the availability of European-made alternatives for cybersecurity, internet technologies, and data-centre projects.

• The European Union is introducing new regulations for cloud computing, AI, and semiconductors to decrease its strategic dependence on foreign technology providers, primarily US tech giants. • This initiative follows a massive surge in data center investments, which are projected to reach a record $61 billion in 2025, though development remains heavily skewed toward the US. • To counter this imbalance, the EU plans to combine increased funding for data center construction with stricter sovereignty requirements to accelerate infrastructure growth within the bloc.

• The European Commission has proposed the Cloud and AI Development Act and Chips Act 2.0 to reduce the EU's reliance on U.S. Big Tech firms. • These new laws aim to tighten data control within critical sectors and advance the bloc's strategic goal of technological sovereignty. • The initiative is designed to close the competitive gap between Europe and its primary technological rivals, the United States and China.

Concerns among commissioners in bloc that surge in imports could lead to decline similar to that of US rust belt townsEU commissioners will meet on Friday for crunch talks aimed at imposing new restrictions on imports from China amid growing concern that Beijing is fuelling conditions for US-style rust belt towns in Europe.The surge in imports of everything from electric cars to key components in machines, medical devices and food stuffs has been dubbed China Shock 2.0, potentially mirroring the experience in the US 25 years ago when Beijing joined the World Trade Organization. Continue reading...

• The European Union is developing a new "tech sovereignty" strategy aimed at reducing its heavy reliance on American technology companies. • This policy marks a strategic shift from primarily regulating Big Tech to actively promoting and favoring homegrown European digital services. • The move is driven by a desire to protect European data, enhance security, and foster economic competitiveness against US dominance.

Rising volume of components imported from China prompts warning of cannibalisation of European industriesEurope is facing a fresh China shock that threatens to cannibalise local factories, leading to job losses and de facto colonisation of industry by Beijing, trade analysts and representatives have said.They fear the plunging exchange rate and support for Chinese “zombie firms” has echoes of the crisis in the US 25 years ago when the term “China shock” was coined. It referred to the impact of China bursting on to the global trade stage after becoming a member of the World Trade Organization, with soaring imports displacing local industries and causing the loss of up to 2.5m jobs. Continue reading...

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on 60 Minutes that Israel seeks to phase out its reliance on U.S. military assistance. • Netanyahu declared, 'It's time that we weaned ourselves from the remaining military support.' • The announcement reflects Israel's push for greater military self-sufficiency amid shifting U.S.-Israel dynamics.

• A KPMG study indicates Singaporean respondents have grown more reliant on AI tools, leading to positive efficiency improvements. • Usage trends reflect broader adoption in daily tasks, with respondents reporting tangible productivity benefits from AI integration. • The findings underscore Singapore's proactive AI embrace amid national strategies for technological advancement.

• India's top 10 most valued companies added a combined Rs 2.20 lakh crore in market capitalisation during a holiday-shortened week, with the BSE Sensex climbing 249.29 points or 0.32 per cent. • Reliance Industries emerged as the biggest gainer, adding Rs 1,39,655.8 crore to reach Rs 19,36,303.30 crore, while Bharti Airtel surged Rs 43,503.51 crore to Rs 11,49,222.13 crore and TCS gained Rs 27,569.83 crore. • Six of the top-10 firms faced a combined valuation erosion of Rs 1.24 lakh crore, with HDFC Bank, SBI, ICICI Bank, L&T, HUL, and LIC all declining during the volatile trading environment.

Exclusive: Former UN climate chief to co-chair Lancet Commission examining how sea-level rise is reshaping health, wellbeing and inequalityCountries are being “held hostage” by their reliance on fossil fuels, a former UN climate chief has warned, describing the health impacts of climate change as “the mother of all injustices”.Christiana Figueres, an international climate negotiator who helped deliver the Paris agreement signed in 2016, made the comments as she was announced on Wednesday as co-chair of a Lancet Commission examining how sea-level rise is reshaping health, wellbeing and inequality. Continue reading...

Prime minister says US–Israeli war on Iran has shifted the international reality, likening current economic shock to Covid pandemic and Ukraine invasionFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnthony Albanese says the federal government is preparing new measures to help shield households from the economic fallout of the war in Iran, likening supply chain and fuel disruptions to the Covid-19 pandemic.Announcing a snap meeting of national cabinet on fuel supply set to take place on Thursday morning, the prime minister used a speech to the Australian Automotive Dealer Association in Sydney to warn the international reality had shifted because of the US and Israeli-led bombings. Continue reading...

Electric vehicles reduce exposure to global oil price shocks and shift energy consumption to electricity largely produced domestically, expert saysGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia could reduce its reliance on foreign fuel by more than 1bn litres a year if we replaced 1m petrol-fuelled cars with electric vehicles, as experts say boosting EV adoption is part of securing the nation’s long-term economic security.Hussein Dia, a professor of transport technology and sustainability at the Swinburne University of Technology, said electric vehicles can play a meaningful role in improving Australia’s energy sovereignty, as well as contributing to the national net zero emissions goal. Continue reading...

Major European companies warned EU leaders on March 13, 2026, that efforts to reduce dependence on US tech like Microsoft and Google cloud services could damage profitability and competitiveness. The EU's new sovereignty package targets AI and software reliance amid geopolitical risks. Firms across banking and manufacturing highlighted the high costs of shifting from entrenched US platforms. Discussions echoed concerns raised at the January Davos World Economic Forum.