Tens of millions of Indians have voted on the first day of a staggered general election that ends on 1 June.
Almost a billion people are eligible to cast their ballots in a seven-phase election to the 543-seat lower house of parliament. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is seeking a third consecutive term.
Several key opposition parties, including the Congress, have formed an alliance in many states to take on BJP. Results will be announced on 4 June.
Key concerns include a jobs crisis, rising prices, a clampdown on dissent and opposition, and the politics of religion.
On Friday, more than 160 million voters in 21 states were eligible to vote for more than 1,600 candidates in 102 seats. With 39 seats, Tamil Nadu in southern India was the day's key battle ground state where Mr Modi's party is trying to make inroads.
The next round of voting will take place on 26 April.
Ahead of the U.S. presidential election, Google is bringing passkey support to its Advanced Protection Program (APP), which is used by people who are at high risk of targeted attacks, such as campaign workers, candidates, journalists, human rights workers, and more. APP traditionally required the use of hardware security keys, but soon users can enroll in APP with passkeys. Users will have the option to use passkeys alone, or alongside a password or hardware security key.
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Formula 1 makes its first of three visits to the United States this weekend as it takes over the Hard Rock Stadium complex for the third-ever Miami Grand Prix.
Spotify has apparently found a new way to push its free users to a paid subscription: It's putting lyrics behind a paywall. Instead, the company told TechCrunch simply that Spotify's features can vary over time, between markets and across devices. The response indicates the change to lyrics may be more than just a test but that Spotify isn't yet prepared to make an official announcement about affected markets.
In an effort to capture more ad dollars, despite the looming U.S. ban, TikTok is introducing new advertising products and opportunities that will allow marketers to better control what sort of content their ads appear against. The company says it will use generative AI to curate trending, brand-safe content; expand its selection of "tentpole" moments, like the Paris Olympics and Met Gala; and allow advertisers to buy slots with specific networks and content offerings. The company introduced the "Pulse Premiere" ad slot last year, and it is now adding new partners to it.
Danti, an artificial intelligence company building a superpower search engine for Earth data, has brought on prominent defensive tech investor Shield Capital as it looks to scale its technology for government customers. Founded by Jesse Kallman in early 2023, Danti has developed a natural language search engine for data that has historically been highly siloed, like satellite imagery, collating it with other commercial and government sources to report back across multiple sources and domains.
Peloton, the exercise equipment maker and online fitness course provider, said it is laying off 15% of its workforce (about 400 people) as part of cost-cutting measures. The company also said its CEO, president, and board director, Barry McCarthy, would step down after two years in the role. McCarthy, who was previously CFO at Spotify and Netflix, was coerced out of retirement in early 2022 when Peloton's co-founder and then-CEO, John Foley, left the role alongside a major cost-cutting effort that saw 2,800 employees laid off.