GM Wants Cars to Talk More in China. The U.S. auto maker is introducing a technology that allows cares to communicate. WSJ.

Alibaba and Intel are set to begin collaborating more closely in artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things, and smart hardware and products.   Intel CEO Brian Krzanich was recently in Hangzhou and met with Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang and got a tour of the city's "Smart City Brain Control Center," designed to tackle traffic congestion. He also took a ride on Alibaba's YunOS Internet car.

Do social media titans Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg use their own services - Twitter and Facebook? NY Magazine

 

DEALS
VC investor Bill Tai is behind a $25M, Series C investment in Treasure Data, Inc., a cloud-based live data management platform. The startup drew capital from Softbank Investment and Innovation Network Corp. of Japan. Treasure Data has raised a total of $54 million and is backed by Jerry Yang's AME Cloud Ventures, Scale Venture Partners and Sierra Ventures.

Tim Draper is among a group of elite Silicon Valley investors in new mobile AI startup AISense, led by Sam Song Liang and a team of tech industry veterans. AISense is using mobile AI technologies, voice-speech recognition and deep learning to developed next generation tools to enhance professional productivity.

INDIA
As start-up exits continue to be elusive in India, several VC firms are seeking more time from investors beyond the usual 10-year period to return their money to LPs.  Nexus Venture Partners, Kalaari Capital, Matrix Partners and IDG Ventures India, are extending the timeline of their first funds in India, starting from 2006 and 2007, by two years to return cash to their investors. Two VC firms - SAIF Partners India and Accel Partners India, both of which began investing in India before 2006 - have bucked the trend, thanks to such investment gems as Myntra, Flipkart, MakeMyTrip and JustDial. Likewise, Seedfund, got good returns on its first fund of $14 million, through bets on  RedBus and Carwale.

Many firms including Kleiner Perkins, DFJ and Canaan Partners have left though Sequoia, Matrix, Nexus and Helion remain. Read story, DealStreet Asia.
 A few have remained:  Sequoia Capital, Matrix Partners, Nexus Venture and Helion Venture Partners.
Now, the rapid expansion of Amazon India and Uber India have caught Flipkart, Snapdeal and Ola by surprise, and leading to upsets. 
Though India has been promising to be the next China in terms of stellar startups, the future of the India VC and startup scene looks shaky.

Warbug Pincus has invested $75 million for a minority stake in Indian logistics startup Rivigo, based in Guragon. India's logistics sector is seen as a next big opportunity for investors with projections of $10 billion in revenues by 2020. VC firms investing in the sector include SAIF Partners, Sequoia Capital India and Accel India as well as  Tiger.

KPMG India chief calls it a day. KPMG India chief Richard Rekhy, who was elected head of KPMG India for a second term up to Nov. 2020, has decided to retire as CEO.

SINGAPORE
Singapore is planning to ease approval times for VC financings and regulations on startups as part of a fintech push in the city that has been angling to be a creative hub.