In the year 2023, big corporate events that impacted, were brought about by an unpredictable economy, global political unrest, and changes in leadership. As we enter a new economic year and start a fresh, we might need a quick recap of how far have we come. Here Urge Times is bringing to it’s readers some significant events that took place this year. What these events were and how they impacted the corporate world? With many readers assuming what it might be some of the major event from the year are listed below:
TikTok Global Ban:
The European Commission, European Parliament, and EU Council all banned TikTok from being used on government-issued devices in February 2023. The Canadian government also ordered the software to be removed from federally-owned devices. Soon after, Denmark, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom took similar actions.
Bytedance was pressured to sell the app by the Biden Administration in March, but the Chinese government quickly voiced its disapproval. A bill banning TikTok within the state was signed into law by Governor Greg Gianforte of Montana in May. However, a federal judge granted a temporary injunction in November ’23, citing First Amendment protections, to halt the prohibition.
Reliance Aquires Disney India, Jio wins HBO Content:
In a deal in 2023, Reliance—headed by the wealthiest businessman in Asia, Mukesh Ambani—owned the majority of the Disney Star firm, which is estimated to be worth $10 billion. The American entertainment giant owned a minority stake in the company.
The agreement also states that a potential merger between Reliance’s media operations and Disney Star is possible. Disney investigated strategic alternatives for Star India, including a sale or joint venture. As part of its $71 billion acquisition of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox Inc., Disney acquired Star India in 2019.
By providing the 2023 IPL season online for free, Ambani’s JioCinema became well-known and attracted 449 million people. Disney used to hold the rights to these HBO series, which Reliance has secured a new multi-year deal to broadcast in India. The shows are produced by Warner Bros Discovery Inc. More over 400 million people use Ambani’s seven-year-old telecom network Jio to access the internet, accounting for over half of the 1.4 billion population in the country. This is mostly due to the network’s inexpensive data plans.
Twitter becomes X:
In the midst of a crisis caused by declining advertising and income, Linda Yaccarino was appointed CEO in June 2023, marking the beginning of many of the largest adjustments. But when Musk renamed the site “X” in July and declared “Twitter” to be a relic, the public felt the impact more keenly.
Analysts and users alike criticized the decision, with some speculating that Musk may have lost significant, unique brand equity as a result. Musk and his X have now encountered yet another issue: the European Union formally declared in late December that it believes the platform violated its policies regarding disinformation and removing illegal content.
Go First Grounding:
Go first was one of the biggest names in Indian aviation. Grounding its entire fleet, the airline announced on May 2 , 2023 that it was going to file for voluntary insolvency.
No additional money should be sent to Go First, according to multiple institutions, and the resolution procedure was started.
Carrying the blame for “faulty” Pratt & Whitney engines, the airline demanded reimbursement. According to recent statements made by the airline’s promoter, Nusli Wadia, the engines cost the carrier Rs 10,000 crore. The airline hasn’t operated a single aircraft since May, despite the promoters having invested an additional Rs 3,200 crore.
Tech Giant Meta faces legal issues for its many platforms:
A former employee of Tech Behemoth Meta asserted that despite being aware of harassment and other bad situations that children were facing on its platforms and Facebook and Instagram’s parent corporation did nothing to address them. Artur Bejar, a former employee of Meta, revealed during his testimony that he sent emails to Zuckerberg and other senior Meta officials informing them that 51% of Instagram users had negative experiences.
Approximately 25% of children between the ages of 13 and 15 who use the service reported having been approached sexually without their consent, he added. The Case is under US Senators hearing , waiting for a final testimony.
The Top AI Launched in 2023:
A lot of AI-related announcements have been made in 2023, such as Google’s Gemini language model, Microsoft’s Bing Chat, Elon Musk’s Grok AI, and OpenAI’s GPT-4 language model. In November 2023, there were a lot of new releases and advancements in the AI space. “Grok,” an AI chatbot, was unveiled by Elon Musk’s xAI firm. 
Pika 1.0 emerged as a novel model for producing videos, while Stability AI introduced Stable Video Diffusion. Google added a stronger language model named Gemini to its AI chatbot as part of its ongoing efforts to add new features.
Adieu to Windows 10:
Although Microsoft promised in 2015 that Windows 10 would be the “last version of Windows,” they later released Windows 11, which has higher system requirements and requires many older PCs and laptops to run. This was announced in 2021.
The most controversial was support for the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0, which was introduced in mid-2016. By means of an updated product roadmap, Microsoft revealed that the October 2022 release of Windows 10, 22H2, is the final version with feature updates. Additionally, the company declared that mainstream customers would no longer receive security upgrades for Windows 10 Home, Pro, Enterprise, and Education starting on October 14, 2025.
Union of HDFC and HDFC Bank, a massive banking entity:
In terms of market value, HDFC Bank is the biggest bank in India. HDFC, the company’s previous parent, was a globally recognized non-banking financial organization (NBFC).
One of the largest mergers in Indian corporate history, involving $40 billion in sales, was successfully announced on 2023, July 1st by HDFB Bank and HDFC. An asset base of Rs 18 trillion was anticipated for the combined company. 42 HDFC Bank shares were distributed to each shareholder who owned 25 HDFC shares. On July 13, HDFC was removed from the stock exchange.
Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX will face prosecution:
Former billionaire Bankman-Fried, along with a number of FTX and cryptocurrency hedge fund Alameda Research staff members, went on trial in October 2023 to answer to charges of money laundering, securities and commodities fraud, and wire fraud.
While Bankman-Fried was on trial for a month in New York City, a number of the workers entered guilty pleas. The 31-year-old Bankman-Fried was quickly found guilty of all seven accusations against him after providing testimony. He is awaiting sentencing.
Micron’s arrival and the split of Foxconn and Vedanta: India’s hopes for semiconductors in 2023
Foxconn declared in July 2023 that it was leaving the joint venture due to noncompliance with government regulations. The industry’s major players have historically been the US, Taiwan, China, and South Korea, but with the Vedanta and Foxconn joint venture, India also demonstrated its willingness in joining forces in this complex sector.
Under the product-linked incentive (PLI) program of the Center, they were to establish a facility in Gujarat.
The US Company Micron has revealed plans to establish a Rs 2.75 billion assembly, testing, packaging, and marking facility in Sanand, Gujarat. The first chips are anticipated to be released in the upcoming months, and the plant’s development has already started.
