Amid the ongoing scandal regarding Facebook’s part in the US 2016 elections, the social media giant has found itself in the middle of yet another controversy. A New York Times report brought to light how a voter profiling company, Cambridge Analytica, harvested more than 50 million Facebook profiles of American voters without their permission. This report resulted in not just harsh criticism from lawmakers in the United States and Britain, but users as well, sparking the #DeleteFacebook movement.
According to the report, Cambridge Analytica secured a $15 million investment to develop a tool that could identify the personalities of American voters and influence their behavior. Although these profiles were obtained without the consent of the users, the millions of Facebook profiles do not constitute a data breach as nobody hacked into Facebook. The data, surprisingly, was obtained legally because the business model of Facebook is predicated on mining the personal details of its two billion users.
A former employee at Cambridge Analytica, Christopher Wylie, who helped the company obtain user data said the company was built on harvesting user data. “We exploited Facebook to harvest millions of people’s profiles. And built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons,” he added. The data allowed Cambridge Analytica to exploit the social media activity of the American electorate and help the Trump campaign target advertisements.
Wylie reached out to Aleksandr Kogan, a Russian-American who developed a personality prediction app called “thisisyourdigitallife.” Kogan told Facebook that he was collecting the data for academic purposes. It should be noted that Facebook has the right to collect user information for research and other purposes as stated in their terms and conditions. Kogan’s app compiled personal information from people based on what they liked on Facebook. As per a report by The Guardian, Kogan, through his company Global Science Research, paid 270,000 people to download the app and take a personality test. Using the test, Cambridge Analytica was able to compile information not only from the users who took the test but from their friend’s profiles as well.
The problem lies in the fact that Facebook was aware that Cambridge Analytica had user data and they asked the company to delete it. While Cambridge Analytica and Kogan seemed to comply, the social networking company never followed up or confirmed the deletion of the data. Until last week, Facebook also allowed the voter profiling company to operate on its site.
The fallout from the scandal resulted in users walking away from the social networking site. Various celebrities also took to Twitter to express their views, including Jim Carrey, who tweeted Zuckerberg’s quote from 2004.
In addition to Cambridge Analytica’s involvement with the US 2016 election, the company has also been a part of the Brexit referendum and US Senator Ted Cruz’s primary run in 2016.
Finally, following days of silence, the Chief Executive Officer of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg responded to the criticism via a Facebook post. Apologizing for the mistake, Zuckerberg said, “We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can’t then we don’t deserve to serve you.”
Whistleblower Wylie was suspended from Facebook and Instagram following the controversy.
Facebook along with Cambridge Analytica is facing several lawsuits in Britain and United States of America. The Attorney General of Massachusetts, Maura Healey’s office will also be opening an investigation into the matter. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia and Representative Adam Schiff of California, the Congressional Democrats leading inquiries into Russian interference in the 2016 election have also called for investigations of the Facebook data leak.
Adopt AI, a San Jose and Bengaluru-based agentic AI startup, has raised $6 million in seed funding led by Elevation Capital, with participation from Foster Ventures, Powerhouse Ventures, Darkmode Ventures, and angel investors. The funding will be used to expand the company’s engineering and product teams and to scale enterprise deployments of its automation platform.
Founded by Deepak Anchala, Rahul Bhattacharya, and Anirudh Badam, Adopt AI offers a platform that lets businesses automate workflows and execute complex actions using natural language commands, without needing to rebuild existing systems. Its core products include a no-code Agent Builder, which allows companies to quickly create and deploy AI-driven conversational interfaces, and Agentic Experience, which replaces traditional user interfaces with text-based commands. The startup’s technology is aimed at SaaS and B2C companies in sectors like banking and healthcare, helping them rapidly integrate intelligent agent capabilities into their applications. Adopt AI’s team includes engineers from Microsoft and Google, with Chief AI Officer Anirudh Badam bringing over a decade of AI experience from Microsoft.
The company has also launched an Early Access Program to let businesses pilot its automation solution and collaborate on new use cases.
PayU India, owned by Prosus, has received final approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as an online payment aggregator, a year after getting in-principle approval in April 2024. This authorization allows PayU to onboard new merchants and offer digital payment solutions, joining other major players like Razorpay, CCAvenue, and BillDesk.
The RBI’s nod comes as PayU prepares for its planned IPO in the second half of 2025, following a delay from its original 2024 timeline due to market conditions. The company, which serves over 450,000 merchants, reported $319 million in revenue from its core payments and credit business in the first half of FY25.
PayU stated that the approval will help it build a resilient, compliant, and innovation-driven institution, supporting merchants of all sizes and advancing the Digital India vision. The company has also strengthened its risk management and expanded its presence in real-time payments through a strategic stake in Mindgate Solutions.
AI infrastructure startup Flam has raised $14 million in a Series A round led by RTP Global, with participation from Dovetail and existing investors, bringing its total funding to $22 million. Founded in 2021, Flam enables brands to create and deliver high-fidelity mixed reality (MR) and generative AI experiences without the need for app downloads, allowing consumers to access immersive content via QR codes or links in under 300 milliseconds.
Flam’s platform is already used by over 100 global brands-including Google, Samsung, and Netflix-reaching more than 380 million users. The new funding will accelerate product innovation, expand operations in North America, Europe, and Asia, and launch a full-stack enterprise suite for MR and GenAI-driven marketing. The company currently has over 120 employees and plans to grow to 180 by the end of 2025, aiming to transform every brand touchpoint into an interactive digital experience.
