Travis Kalanick, the Co-Founder and former CEO of Uber, on Friday launched his startup, 'Atoms'. It will focus on specialised industrial robotics designed to automate tasks ‌in the mining, transport and food sectors. "Gainfully employed ⁠robots are the machines best suited for the ​job at hand, that can make a living doing ​it," Kalanick said in a statement.

Digg is laying off a sizeable portion of its staff, citing 'brutal reality' in the digital environment and a surge in AI-driven bot activity. This comes after the once-popular content ‌aggregator had announced its comeback. CEO Justin Mezzell said in a statement that Digg is shrinking to a core team after failing to find product-market fit against established online platforms.

Substack, a newsletter platform, has launched a new feature called the 'Substack Recording Studio' to let creators pre-record and publish videos directly on the platform. The tool, currently available only on desktop, supports solo recordings as well as conversations with up to two guests. This move reflects Substack's growing focus on video content alongside its newsletter offerings.

Fintech Jupiter Money's bid to obtain a minority stake in State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) India collapsed after the lender decided not to move ahead with discussions, Moneycontrol reported. Changes in Mauritius' government and SBM's management reportedly affected the deal. The discussions began in 2024 and were initially aimed at acquiring a 5-9% stake. Jupiter started operations in 2019.

The India-UK free-trade agreement (FTA) will come into force in a month, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. "This will be the fastest agreement ever to be approved by the UK Parliament," he said, adding that he is currently discussing the finer details of the agreement. Notably, 99% of Indian exports will enter the UK duty-free under the pact.

Saudi Arabia has cut oil production by two million barrels per day to around eight million bpd after ​reducing output from two major offshore fields, Reuters reported, citing sources. The development came amid disruptions linked to US-Israeli war with Iran and blocking of Strait of Hormuz. Iran has warned that disruption could drive global oil prices as high as $200/barrel.

After US President Donald Trump's administration launched "unfair trade practice" investigations against 16 key trading partners, including India, an Indian official on Friday said the country is "evaluating" the documents. "We're studying what is in their note," the official stated, adding, "We're looking at it from all perspectives. Both from the legal perspective as well as the economic angle."

The CBI on Friday questioned Anil Ambani's son Jai Anmol Ambani in a ₹228-crore Union Bank of India fraud case, NDTV Profit reported, citing officials. Jai Anmol Ambani was questioned for around 6.5 hours, they said. The case relates to an alleged criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal misconduct that caused a wrongful loss of ₹228.06 crore to the bank.

An LPG tanker sailing to India has crossed the Strait of Hormuz amid blockage due to the US-Iran war in the Middle East, according to reports. Another tanker would also sail for India soon, the reports added. This comes after Iran's Ambassador to India Mohammad Fathali confirmed safe passage for Indian ships from the Strait of Hormuz.

UK economy recorded zero growth in January as the gross domestic product (GDP) didn't rise or fall, data released by Office for National Statistics revealed. The GDP was unchanged after 0.1% growth in the previous month, and it was worse than the 0.2% growth economists had expected. Notably, the newest data does not include the impact of the US-Iran war.