Bloomberg - Faz Business | فاز الأعمال

Apple in Talks With Banks to Launch Apple Pay in India This Year

Posted on February 26, 2026 by faz_business

Apple is in talks with major Indian banks as it prepares to introduce Apple Pay in the country sometime in the middle of 2026, reports Bloomberg.

apple pay feature dynamic island
Apple is said to be in discussions with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Axis Bank, according to people with knowledge of the matter who spoke to the publication.

The report corroborates a story in January by Business Standard that said Apple Pay was preparing to go live in the Indian market before the end of the year. The Times of India also earlier reported the India plans for Apple Pay.

Today’s report says Apple is talking through the plan with global payment networks Mastercard and Visa. UPI dominates digital payments in India, and Apple Pay is expected to support the state-backed payments interface, which allows customers to instantly transfer money and bills.

Apple Pay launched more than 10 years ago, and is already available across 89 markets globally. Late last year, India’s central bank approved new rules that allow biometric authentication like Touch ID and Face ID for digital payments. The country’s authentication methods previously relied on one-time passwords sent over SMS messages.

The timing comes at a good moment for Apple in India. The company recorded its highest quarterly shipments in the country during Q3 2025, reaching 5 million units and securing fourth place in the market for the first time, according to IDC data. Apple is also rapidly expanding its retail presence in India, with a sixth store opening in Mumbai on Thursday.

OpenAI is now the world’s most valuable private company at $500 billion

Posted on October 2, 2025 by faz_business

OpenAI has overtaken SpaceX as the largest startup and most valuable private company in the world. Bloomberg has reported that the company has authorized a secondary share sale, which allowed its former and current employees to sell their stocks. OpenAI had authorized the sale of $10.3 billion in shares, but they ultimately sold $6.6 billion to investors that include Softbank, Abu Dhabi government’s MGX fund, American investment firm Thrive Capital and global investment management firm T. Rowe Price. As Bloomberg explains, that has boosted the company’s valuation to $500 billion from $300 billion, overtaking SpaceX with a $400 billion valuation and TikTok developer ByteDance at $220 billion.

In early September, OpenAI said it was getting closer to transitioning to a new structure that will turn it into a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) controlled by its nonprofit arm. The company’s nonprofit division received an equity stake of more than $100 billion, making it a major shareholder of the PBC. SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk is one of the biggest critics of OpenAI’s decision and has been trying to block the company’s for-profit transition in court. Musk was one of OpenAI’s founders and funded its initial operations. He claimed in court that OpenAI and Altman are breaking their contract with him and violating the company’s founding mission of building AI “for the benefit of humanity” by changing its structure.

OpenAI is hoping that being a PBC would make it more appealing to investors, as it would remove the cap on the financial returns they can get. It needs a lot more money than what it has raised so far, after all: OpenAI chief Sam Altman previously said he intends to spend trillions of dollars on building out data centers to run artificial intelligence services.

Trump’s administration may look to buy a stake in Intel

Posted on August 19, 2025 by faz_business

Intel has had some recent struggles in delivering results for its shareholders, but the company could soon be answering to an additional boss. The current administration is reportedly in talks to have the US government acquire a stake in the chipmaker. Bloomberg first reported the news without specifics about the size or value of the potential share the government wants to buy. According to a newer report by Bloomberg and The New York Times, the Trump administration is looking to take a 10 percent stake in Intel as part of its efforts to give domestic chip manufacturing a boost.

The administration is reportedly considering converting the $10.86 billion in federal grants Intel is getting from the US Chips and Science Act into equity instead. It’s still early days, and the White House is still deciding on the exact size of the stake. Intel initially shared plans to construct a semiconductor facility in Ohio in 2022 while Pat Gelsinger was still at the helm of the company. Since then, the project has faced delays, and at its latest quarterly earnings report, execs said Intel would “slow the pace” on the Ohio construction, as well as scrapping other international building plans and making workforce cuts.

The potential for government ownership of Intel is the latest swing of the administration’s attitude toward the company. A few days after calling for his resignation over connections to China, President Donald Trump met with CEO Lip-Bu Tan and seemed to now hold a more positive outlook on the company leader.

A representative from Intel told Bloomberg in a statement that the company is “deeply committed to supporting President Trump’s efforts to strengthen US technology and manufacturing leadership. We look forward to continuing our work with the Trump administration to advance these shared priorities, but we are not going to comment on rumors or speculation.”

Update, August 18 2025, 10:31AM ET: This story has been updated to include new reports that the Trump administration is looking to take a 10 percent stake in Intel.

iPhone 17 Lineup Likely to Be Announced in Week of September 8, 2025

Posted on July 14, 2025 by faz_business

Apple is expected to hold its annual iPhone announcement event during the week of September 8, 2025, with September 9 or 10 emerging as the most likely dates.

The anticipated timing of the iPhone 17 event was outlined in the latest “Power On” newsletter from Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman. According to Gurman, Apple traditionally schedules its ‌iPhone‌ unveilings for the week following Labor Day in the United States. In 2025, Labor Day falls on Monday, September 1, placing the target week between Monday, September 8, and Friday, September 12.

Apple has consistently avoided holding major product announcements on Fridays, eliminating September 12 from consideration. The company has also refrained from scheduling events on September 11 in recent years. Based on these constraints, Monday, September 8, Tuesday, September 9 and Wednesday, September 10 are the most plausible dates for the event. Gurman believes Tuesday, September 9 or Wednesday, September 10 is most likely.

Gurman’s projections are supported by an analysis of Apple’s event history over the past decade. Of the ten most recent ‌iPhone‌ launch events, five were held on a Tuesday and three on a Wednesday.

Only one occurred on a Monday, in 2024, making that day a less likely candidate despite its theoretical availability in the calendar. The majority of Apple’s fall ‌iPhone‌ events also took place during the second week of September, with the only major deviation being in 2020, when the event was delayed until October due to pandemic-related production issues.

This year’s event is expected to see the announcement of the ‌iPhone 17‌, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, ‌iPhone 17 Pro‌ Max, Apple Watch SE 3, Apple Watch Series 11, and Apple Watch Ultra 3. The company typically issues press invitations roughly one week in advance.

Apple Will Reportedly Be More Cautious About Announcing New Features Well in Advance

Posted on May 19, 2025 by faz_business

Apple plans to mostly stop announcing new features more than a few months before they are ready to launch, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett. The pair of reporters revealed this noteworthy tidbit towards the bottom of a lengthy report about Apple’s artificial intelligence shortcomings today.

iOS 18 Siri Personal Context
This alleged change in strategy comes after Apple was forced to delay its more personalized version of Siri, which will be powered by Apple Intelligence. Apple first previewed the promised Siri upgrades during its WWDC 2024 keynote, and at the time it said the features would be available within the following year.

Apple also missed its promised 2024 timeframe for launching next-generation CarPlay, which it first announced all the way back at WWDC 2022. The company finally announced the launch of CarPlay Ultra last week, with the software system rolling out in high-end Aston Martin vehicles in the U.S. and Canada this month.

Tag: Bloomberg

Apple in Talks With Banks to Launch Apple Pay in India This Year

Popular Stories

Apple Reportedly Plans to Unveil at Least Five New Products Next Week

Tim Cook Warned by CIA That China Could Move on Taiwan by 2027

iOS 26.3.1 Update for iPhones Coming Soon as ‘Apple Experience’ Nears

OpenAI is now the world’s most valuable private company at $500 billion

Trump’s administration may look to buy a stake in Intel

iPhone 17 Lineup Likely to Be Announced in Week of September 8, 2025

Apple Will Reportedly Be More Cautious About Announcing New Features Well in Advance

Popular Stories

Apple’s CarPlay Ultra Is Here – Does Your iPhone Support It?

Apple’s ‘CarPlay Ultra’ Experience Now Available

Apple Says These Vehicle Brands Plan to Offer All-New CarPlay Ultra

WSJ: Some Apple Vision Pro Buyers ‘Feel Total Regret’

iPhone 17 Air Could Debut Advanced Silicon Battery Tech

Apple Says Fortnite for iOS Isn’t Blocked Worldwide, Just the U.S.