India’s Internet user base reached cusp of 1 billion led by AI adoption, short-video consumption and E-Commerce, reported the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), a not-for-profit body representing the digital services sector, here on Thursday (January 29, 2026).

According to IAMAI’s latest edition of Internet in India report, India now has 958 million Active Internet Users (AIUs), reinforcing the country’s position as one of the world’s largest and fastest evolving digital markets. The report also reveals that rural India accounts for 57% of India’s active internet users i.e approximately 548 million active internet users.

AI seen mass adoption in the country

The ‘Internet in India Report 2025,’ jointly prepared by the IAMAI and KANTAR, and was launched at the India Digital Summit (IDS) in Bengaluru found that the country’s active internet users base grew 8% year‑on‑year growth in calendar 2025. Artificial Intelligence has reached mass adoption in the country, found the survey, which also revealed that 44% of these users were already using AI‑enabled features such as voice search, image‑based search, chatbots and AI filters. The AI usage was the highest among younger audiences, with 57% of users aged 15- 24 years and 52% of those aged 25- 44 years reporting AI usage in CY 2025.

Short-video consumption a key driver

Short‑video consumption has emerged as a key growth driver within this expanding user base. In 2025, 588 million (61%) internet users consumed short‑video content, with rural users marginally outnumbering urban users. Adoption is strongest among younger audiences, cementing their role as a key driver of digital engagement.

Again, quick commerce was leading a fundamental shift in how Indians shopped online, with social commerce close behind, as the e‑commerce ecosystem expanded beyond traditional online marketplaces, stated the report. Among urban users, 230 million people (56%) of the urban active internet base, shopped online in 2025, with quick commerce and social commerce gaining prominence alongside established marketplaces.

Multi device ownership on the rise

The study also found that multi device usership was on the rise. For instance, the country now has 193 million multi‑device internet users, representing 20% of all active internet users, up from 165 million in 2024. Urban adoption stands at 31%, while rural India is catching up at 12%. Also, shared device usage continues to be a key enabler of digital access. Some 18% of internet users go online through someone else’s mobile device, and nearly 80% of these users are based in rural areas.

The report also revealed that despite strong momentum, 38% of India’s population – about 579 million people -still remained non‑active internet users. However, this proportion has been steadily declining year after year, signalling substantial headroom for the continued expansion of India’s digital economy, it pointed out.

The Internet in India report was prepared based on the ICUBE study, which is recognised as the country’s most authoritative source on digital adoption and online behaviour. Close to 100,000 internet consumers from 400 towns and over 1,000 villages participated in the study.

Devialet, an uber-luxury French audio brand, on Thursday (January 29, 2026) launched its new Phantom Ultimate speaker in India, succeeding the decade old Phantom speaker.

Designed and created in Paris, the new Devialet Phantom Ultimate will be sold and marketed through Luxury Personified LLP in India.

The plug-and-play speaker comes with adaptive volume level that automatically adjusts volume in real time based on content type.

Devialet Phantom Ultimate runs on a new NXP i.MX 8M Nano processor, integrated into a system-on-a-chip (SoC). It runs on the latest version of Devialet OS (DOS3).

The super luxury speaker various streaming protocols like including AirPlay, Google Cast, Roon Ready, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and UpnP. It can be customised using the Devialet app as well. Phantom Ultimate offers modes like Music, Podcast, and Cinema. There is ix-band equalizer.

The optimised driver and 32 bit/96 kHz audio processing, allows Devialet Phantom Ultimate 108 dB to deliver a high-resolution sound across an extended frequency range; from 14 Hz to 35 kHz for a total amplification power of 1,100 W.

The user interface now includes four touch controls on the top of the speaker. Devialet Phantom Ultimate 108 dB offers connectivity of Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3.

Along with ADH, it uses SAM algorithm for high fidelity. It helps speaker adapt in real time to both transient and steady-state signals. SAM enables to reproduce the phase and amplitude of sound waves with exceptional accuracy.

Devialet Phantom Ultimate 108 dB comes in Deep Forest and Light Pearl, starting at ₹4,08,999. The Opera de Paris shade costs ₹4,82,999. There is a 98 dB variant too that starts at ₹1,99,999 and ₹2,32,999 (Opera de Paris).

Microsoft on Wednesday reported a 60 percent jump in net income for the last quarter of 2025, but spending on artificial intelligence surged, rattling investors.

Shares in the cloud and software giant sank about five percent in after-hours trading, with investors keeping a close eye on capital expenditures as the company spends heavily in the AI race against rivals Google, Amazon and Meta.

The company said that capital expenditures, which largely consist of the massive build-out for AI and cloud infrastructure, grew by 66 percent to $37.5 billion.

Investors are also looking at Microsoft’s ties to OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.

Microsoft now holds a 27 percent stake in OpenAI, which has quickly grown to become the world’s most valuable private company with a $500 billion valuation, but which some feel is overspending.

Analysts expressed worry that a sizeable chunk of Microsoft’s expected revenue over the coming quarters was from a financially overstretched OpenAI.

Microsoft said about 45 percent of its remaining cloud commitments are from OpenAI.

OpenAI is the leader in generative AI technology, but is required to raise billions every year to meet its huge expenses for computing and top engineering talent.

Beating expectations, Microsoft posted net income of $38.5 billion on revenue of $81.3 billion for the three months ending December 31.

This was up from $24.1 billion in profit on $69.6 billion in revenue a year earlier.

Analysts said that the net income figure was boosted by gains booked from Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI.

Azure and other cloud services, Microsoft’s most closely watched segment, saw revenue surge 39 percent, roughly in line with expectations.

The company said demand for cloud services continues to exceed available supply.

With this earnings result, “Microsoft didn’t declare victory on AI-but it made a credible case that the spending has a path to payback,” said Emarketer principal analyst Jeremy Goldman.

The LinkedIn professional network saw revenue grow 11 percent while revenue from Xbox gaming content and services decreased five percent. Hardware sales for Xbox were down 32 percent.

Google said on Wednesday it has taken action ‍to remove domains belonging ​to one of the largest residential ‌proxy networks in ​the world, called IPIDEA, in an effort to protect millions of consumer devices from being exploited by cybercriminals and state-sponsored hackers.

Residential proxy networks allow ​attackers to route internet traffic ⁠through hijacked consumer IP addresses, effectively masking malicious activity and bypassing security ​defences.

The operation ⁠this week, led by Google Threat Intelligence Group, or GTIG, involved taking legal action to ‌seize domains used to control ‌compromised devices and implementing automatic protections for Android ‍users through Google Play Protect, the Alphabet unit said in ‍a blog post.

“We believe our actions have caused significant degradation of IPIDEA’s proxy network and business operations, reducing the available pool of devices for the proxy operators by ⁠millions,” Google said.

IPIDEA operated at least 13 residential proxy ​brands, which were taken offline.

Google identified ⁠over 600 Android applications and 3,075 unique Windows files connected to the network’s command-and-control infrastructure.

Bharti Airtel on Thursday said it will provide free access to Adobe Express Premium to 360 million customers, enabling them to create high-quality social assets, marketing materials, short videos, and design content.

The move comes as such AI-powered design tools are rapidly gaining traction, prompting Indian telecom operators to strike partnerships with global tech firms to keep user engagement high within their digital ecosystems.

In a release, Airtel said that with Adobe Express Premium, valued at about ₹4,000, free for a year, its customers can express their creativity and produce professional-quality content, regardless of their design experience.

“This landmark and first-of-its-kind partnership will provide access to Adobe Express Premium to all Airtel customers for creating high-quality social assets, marketing materials, short videos and anything they wish to design quickly and effortlessly,” the Sunil Mittal-led telco said in the release.

The Adobe Express Premium subscription will be available to all Airtel customers, including mobile, WiFi, and DTH customers, the release said, adding that users can avail this subscription by logging in to the Airtel Thanks App.

Snap will create an independent subsidiary ‍for its augmented reality smart glasses, as it looks to ​attract external investment and challenge bigger rival Meta in ‌the fast-growing wearables market.

The launch of ​the Specs unit, announced on Wednesday, comes as the success of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses positions eyewear as an early frontrunner in the race for gadgets powered by artificial intelligence.

But wearables is a costly bet, requiring massive capital injection for hardware, software and ​research and design capabilities, where even slight supply chain ⁠disruptions can impact production goals. Earlier this month, a supply squeeze forced Meta to pause the international expansion of its Ray-Ban Display ​glasses and focus on fulfilling ⁠U.S. orders. While Meta develops its smart glasses with EssilorLuxottica’s Ray-Ban, Big Tech rival Google has partnered with Warby Parker.

Known for its Snapchat messaging app and ‌animated filters, Snap has been doubling down on AR, ‌which can overlay digital effects onto photos, videos and users’ views of their surroundings in ‍real-time. Specs smart glasses will feature an “intelligence system” to anticipate user needs and assist them with tasks. Snap’s shares were ‍up more than 2%. The company said the new unit would open its door to minority investment and is actively recruiting for nearly 100 global positions as it moves closer to the product’s launch.

Snap has invested more than $3 billion over 11 years to develop its AR glasses, co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel said ⁠at the Augmented World Expo last year.

“Success will depend less on breakthrough hardware innovation, but ​more on ecosystem integration and software value,” said Francisco Jeronimo, ⁠VP of devices research at market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC).

Last year, Meta dominated the smart glasses market with a 70% unit market share, followed by Xiaomi Corp at 8.5% and Huawei Technologies ⁠with 2.7%, according to IDC.

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang expressed optimism Thursday that Beijing will permit the sale to Chinese buyers of a powerful AI chip model made by the US tech giant.

Huang’s remarks came a day after the Wall Street Journal and others reported that Beijing had authorised several of Nvidia’s Chinese customers to buy the advanced chip.

The chip in question, the H200, can be used to train and run cutting-edge artificial intelligence systems.

It had been barred from sale in China by Washington over national security concerns, but last month US President Donald Trump said he had reached an agreement with China’s Xi Jinping to soften restrictions on the H200.

However, there has been uncertainty over whether the Chinese government would actually allow firms to buy them, because it has reportedly been encouraging Chinese tech companies to use domestically made chips instead.

“The actual licence for H200 is being finalised,” Huang told reporters in Taipei.

“I’m hoping… the Chinese government would allow Nvidia to sell (the) H200, so they have to decide, and I’m looking forward to a favourable decision,” he said.

“We’re looking forward to returning to China so that we can compete in the market. They have many very strong chip companies, and so we have to compete quite vigorously.”

With the United States and China locked in a fierce race for AI supremacy, Trump’s decision to allow H200 sales to China marked a significant shift in US export policy for AI chips.

The deal, under which the US government gets a 25-percent cut of sales, was confirmed by the US commerce department on January 13.

Nvidia’s most top-of-the-range chips, the Blackwell series and forthcoming Rubin processors, were not included in the agreement.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Chinese tech companies, including Alibaba and ByteDance, have been given the green light to receive the first batch of several hundred thousand H200 chips.

More imports were expected to be approved in the coming weeks, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.

The move came during Huang’s recent visit to China, which reportedly included stops in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen.

It comes ahead of Trump’s planned trip to Beijing in April for talks with Xi that are aimed at resolving trade disputes.