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The rising use cases of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) have propelled the valuations of leading global and Indian AI companies to significant heights, driven by investor enthusiasm for the technology’s transformative potential. ChatGPT, the AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, reached 100 million users just two months after its launch.Retail investors are now viewing AI as a promising investment frontier, with significant potential for gains by investing in leading companies in this field. Nvidia, a maker of AI chips, has seen its stock surge threefold in the past year, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world with a market capitalisation in excess of $3 trillion. Several other AI-related companies, including Broadcom, Meta Platforms, Taiwan Semiconductor, Qualcomm, and Applied Materials, have experienced gains between 50% and 80% in the past year. About 30 global AI-related stocks are valued at over $100 billion now. ET has compiled a list of the top 20 companies related to AI, part of the Alliance Global Artificial Intelligence Fund, which have gained the most in the last one year. Many of these cutting-edgecompanies aren’t listed yet. Here’s a list of those with valuations based on their latest funding round.LEADING GLOBAL AND INDIAN UNLISTED AI COMPANIES 1) OpenAI: The maker of ChatGPT, OpenAI, is the world’s largest AI company, with a valuation of $80 billion. Backed by technology major Microsoft and venture capital firm Y Combinator, OpenAI has raised a total of $11.3 billion in funding, with its last Series E round occurring on April 12 2) xAI: Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI, founded in March 2023, is the second most-valued AI startup globally with a valuation of $18 billion. The company’s last Series B funding round was backed by investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital3) ScaleAI: San Francisco headquartered Scale AI has attained a valuation of $13 billion. The startup recently raised $1 billion from investors such as Accel, Meta, Nvidia, and Ama4) Cohere: The Toronto-based enterprise-focused AI platform Cohere is valued at $5 billion after raising $450 million in a June funding round from investors, including Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures, and Cisco5) Anthropic: Amazon-backed AI startup Anthropic has reached a valuation of $4 billion. In May, the tech giant invested $2.75 billion in the company6) Stability AI: The generative AI startup Stability AI, known for its text-to-image model Stable Diffusion, now has a valuation of $4 billion. The cashstrapped company recently raised $80 million, according to reports7) Perplexity AI: The AI-powered research and conversational search engine startup Perplexity AI has reached a valuation of $3 billion. According to multiple reports, Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group is investing between $10 million and $20 million in the startup8) Adept AI: The San Francisco-based startup building AIpowered agents to automate various software-based tasks has a valuation of $1 billion. In March, the company announced it had raised $350 million in a Series B round, bringing the total funds raised to around $400 million9) Krutrim AI: Mobility major Ola’s cofounder Bhavish Aggarwal’s Krutrim AI became the fi rst homegrown AI startup to achieve unicorn status after raising $50 million at a valuation of $1 billion from Matrix Partners India10) Sarvam AI: Chennai-based startup SarvamAI, which is developing GenAI models, has a valuation of $110 million after $41 million from LightSpeed, Peak XV, and Khosla VenturesTOP LISTED AI PLAYERS 111394073 111394081

Nifty could extend its gains as momentum remains strong with technical charts suggesting a positive bias. If the Index crosses and sustains above the 24,200 level, the momentum could push it towards 24,500-24,600. Analysts recommend stocks such as Reliance, ICICI Bank, LIC Housing Finance, Grasim, Praj Industries, Biocon, Cipla, Apollo Tyres, Tata Motors, and BEL for the week. RAJESH PALVIYA HEAD TECHNICAL DERIVATIVES, AXIS SECURITIESWhere is the Nifty headed? The index has formed a long bullish candle on weekly chart, engulfing the previous weekly candle and closing above the previous week’s high, indicating a positive bias. The chart pattern suggests that if Nifty crosses and sustains above 24,200, it would likely witness buying, leading the index towards the 24,500-24,600 levels. Conversely, if the index breaks below 23,900, it would likely witness selling, pushing it towards the 23,800-23,600 levels. What should Investors do? Stocks expected to show bullishness include Reliance, ICICI Bank, LIC Housing Finance, Grasim, Praj Industries, Biocon, Apollo Tyres, Tata Motors, and BEL. Consider a moderately bullish strategy using a Bull-Call Spread for the July 4 weekly expiry. This involves purchasing one lot of the 24,100 strike Calls at a premium of Rs 134 and selling one lot of the 24,400 strike Calls at a premium of Rs 35. If Nifty closes above 24,199 on expiry, the strategy will begin making a profit. While the risk is limited here, so are potential profits.APURVA SHAH HEAD OF MARKET RESEARCH, SAMCO SECURITIESWhere is Nifty headed next week? Nifty crossed the lifetime high and a psychological mark of 24,000 last week. With this, the index has recorded 24 new all-time high closings in 2024. The bulls have a firm grip on the index and don’t seem in any mood to let it go in July, which is the best month for markets. In 9 out of the last 10 years, the index has closed on a positive note with an average gain of 3.3%, which is the highest among all months. The index has broken out of a broadening megaphone pattern which indicates higher levels of 24,500 may be coming in July. However, on an immediate basis, the index is likely to consolidate and may even give up some of the recent gains and slip lower to the 50% retracement support of 23,762, drawn from the low of 23,350 to the high of 24,174. What should investors do? Investors should follow a buy-on-dips approach. One can go long at 23,762-23,664 with a stop loss at 23,500 for a target of 24,500. Prefer stocks from the mid-cap universe like KPIT Tech, Gulf Oil Lubricants, CE Info Systems and Mahindra Logistics for trading.RAHUL SHARMA HEAD- TECHNICAL & DERIVATIVE RESEARCH, JM FINANCIAL SERVICESWhere is the Nifty headed this week? Nifty formed a large bullish engulfing candle on weekly charts and closed the week and month on a thumping note above the 24,000 mark. Nifty options chain is suggesting open interest concentration at 24,000 Puts and 24,500 Calls, while the Put-Call ratio, which was overheated at 1.49 on Friday, cooled off to 1.17. We, however, advise caution on fresh longs as risk reward is diminishing at higher levels. We expect Nifty to broadly enter into two months of time correction once the current momentum dies out in the next few days. Support levels are 23,985 and 23,665, with resistance at 24,175 and 24,500. What should Investors do? Investors are advised to start taking profits in areas where markets have outperformed recently, like private banks. Positive on PSUs and pharma. Buy Cipla at Rs 1,480. The stock saw a strong support area at Rs 1,465. Buy Tata Motors at Rs 990 with a stop loss at Rs 948.

Prague: The Volkswagen Group's wholly-owned Indian subsidiary, Skoda Auto Volkswagen India, has made "great progress" in talks for a potential equity partnership with an Indian company.But even as it is banking on a collaboration to share costs and risks and gain from the sourcing, engineering, competence of the local partner, it is also open to the idea of continuing its operations solo, said a top executive at Skoda Auto, which leads the India operations on behalf of the Volkswagen Group and its brands. VW Group brands in India include Skoda, Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini.The group's next phase of investment in India will hinge on the final call the company takes on the matter, Klaus Zellmer, CEO Skoda Auto, said in an interaction with the Indian media. The Volkswagen Group had announced an investment of ₹1 billion in a Skoda-led India project in 2018."We are talking to multiple partners in India. They have the local competencies, and they are much closer to the market. We have made great progress but can't divulge anything. We are looking at an equity partnership. Someone who can help in engineering, sales, and procurement competency. While we are not forced to enter a partnership, this is something I personally find very attractive," said Zellmer.The VW Group is looking for a collaboration amid the government's push on electric vehicles, stricter carbon emission regulations which require substantial investments and heightening competition in India's car market where Skoda remains at the fringes with a less than 3% share despite over two decades of presence. This also comes against the backdrop of Skoda identifying India as the second most crucial market outside Europe amid a go-slow approach in China and its exit from Russia. India, meanwhile, will also serve as an export hub for Asean and Middle East markets for the group."Skoda Auto is leading the India operations on behalf of the Volkswagen Group and its brands. To fully explore the country's growth potential, we are always considering new business opportunities and are evaluating various options to ensure the best possible solution to implement our strategy in the highly dynamic Indian market," he said.Without indicating a specific time frame within which the company will take a call on the partnership, Zellmer said the Indian unit will have to have battery electric vehicles in its portfolio to compensate for the CO2 limit as a run-up to the implementation of advance carbon emission regulations in India in 2027-28. Given the long development cycle of 36 months, there's no time to relax, he noted.Automakers in India will need to cut carbon emissions by a third over the next three years or face stiff penalties under the third iteration of the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency Norms (CAFE) drawn up by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency. The CAFE-3 rules will come into effect from April 2027.(The reporter was in Prague on an invitation from Skoda Auto)

India's warehousing sector is seeing increasing adoption of solar power, driven by cost savings, environmental benefits as well as supportive government policies.The move towards renewable energy is not just a response to global environmental concerns but also a strategic business decision for many warehouse operators seeking to reduce operational costs and enhance sustainability.Warehousing developers and operators, including Allcargo Group, Horizon Industrial Parks, Mahindra Logistics, Amazon India, and Flipkart, are incorporating solar energy into their logistics facilities and supply chain infrastructure.For instance, logistics player Allcargo Gati has solarised more than 10 facilities spread across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab. The company has a total footprint of 10 million sq ft."We aim to enhance solar capacity by solarising an additional five locations in Bhiwandi, Nagpur, Bengaluru, Indore and Farukhnagar by next year," said Sushil Kumar Rathi, director, Allcargo Supply Chain, an Allcargo Group company. "This will add 500 kWp of solar capacity to our existing installed capacity of over 680 kWp. The group's solarisation initiatives are a testament to its vision of achieving carbon neutrality by 2040."These moves not only indicate the feasibility of solar power in warehousing but also set a precedent for others in the industry. 111386056Blackstone's logistics platform Horizon Industrial Parks has also taken steps in making rooftop solar power available at all operational parks. It has current operational and near-term planned capacity of more than 25 MW across 12 operational parks and it plans to add at least 10 MW of solar capacity annually."Currently, 20% of the total energy consumption requirements of the tenants at Horizon Industrial Parks is met by solar energy. We expect this to increase to 30-35% in the next 12-18 months, and our endeavour will be to increase it further, subject to favourable state-level renewable energy policies," said Urvish Rambhia, principal at Blackstone Real Estate India.According to him, by providing customers with on-site solar rooftop power, Horizon Industrial Parks hopes to contribute to a large part of their renewable energy requirement at its sites. Horizon Industrial Parks, along with its affiliates, manages 24 industrial and logistics parks spread across over 1,700 acres, and with an area of 42 million sq ft, which are in 10 key markets in India.The government has been promoting renewable energy through incentives and policies. Programmes like the National Solar Mission aim to establish India as a global leader in solar energy. Subsidies, tax breaks and grants are available for businesses that invest in solar power, making it a financially viable option.Additionally, some states offer net metering policies, allowing businesses to sell excess power back to the grid, further enhancing the financial benefits.A primary motivator for the shift in warehouses is cost savings. Warehouses, which typically have large, flat rooftops, are ideal for installing solar panels.Adopting solar power aligns with the broader corporate responsibility initiatives that many companies are now prioritising.