{
  "id": 7455978,
  "title": "Four Indian startups in Google DeepMind Accelerator; What happens when AI makes thinking cheap? An IISc professor weighs in",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/four-indian-startups-in-google-deepmind-accelerator-what-happens-when",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-15T02:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "YourStory",
    "slug": "yourstory",
    "url": "https://yourstory.com/2026/09/amazon-adds-176-facilities-ahead-of-indias-festive-rush"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Four Indian climate-tech startups have been selected for the inaugural Google DeepMind Accelerator, an AI for the Planet (APAC) cohort. Terrastack, Varaha Climate, Farmers for Forests, and Climitra Carbon will receive technical support, access to Google's AI stack, and expert mentorship to tackle environmental challenges using frontier artificial intelligence.\n\nAs AI systems become increasingly powerful, concerns over alignment and misuse have risen. Microsoft has drafted an internal code of conduct for its AI, aimed at ensuring transparency, preventing resistance to shutdown orders, and treating policy breaches as total system failures. Meanwhile, China has rejected US calls for a slowdown in AI development.\n\nAn IISc professor weighs in on the implications of AI commoditizing human intellect. With AI making thinking cheap and fast, routine knowledge work could become worthless, widening wealth inequality. Educational institutions and workers would need to adapt, focusing on uniquely human skills such as complex problem-solving and real-world application. As AI takes over routine cognitive tasks, human efforts should shift toward addressing complex physical, scientific, and societal challenges.",
  "summary": "The four Indian startups selected for the inaugural cohort are applying AI, satellite intelligence, remote sensing and drones to challenges ranging from sustainable agriculture and agroforestry to carbon removal and biodiversity.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}