Home / Tech Pulse / June 29, 2026
Dillip Chowdary

Tech Pulse Daily: June 29, 2026

Curated by Dillip Chowdary - Midweek operations edition, IST

Today's Top Highlights

  • Honeywell officially spins off its aerospace tech business as an independent public company.
  • HCL Technologies places a massive bet on India's AI future with a 1427.25 crore investment.
  • FortiBleed campaign continues to threaten internet-facing SSL VPNs.
  • OpenAI pauses GPT-5.6 deployment amid voluntary safety framework alignment.
  • Tech Mahindra fully embeds Perplexity AI into its sales workflow.
  • India's VC ecosystem shows muscle with 1.08 billion raised in the final week of June.

Honeywell Aerospace Independence

Honeywell successfully separated its Aerospace Technologies division into a standalone public entity, trading as HONA. This gives the unit agility for aerospace and defense expansions.

  • Trades on Nasdaq under ticker symbol HONA.
  • Separation enables focused R&D on sustainable propulsion.
  • Aims at pure-play aerospace valuation multiples.
  • Reflects an industry trend of conglomerates specializing.
Honeywell Aerospace spin-off ->

HCL Tech Bets Big on Local AI

HCL Technologies just cemented a 1427.25 crore Series B2 investment in Sarvam AI (Axonwise). The move is a strong indicator of enterprise IT's hunger for sovereign and localized AI models.

  • Brings localized GenAI to Indian enterprise clients.
  • Supports data residency and nuanced language models.
  • Accelerates Sarvam AI's compute infrastructure scaling.
HCL invests in Sarvam AI ->

FortiBleed Campaign Extends Reach

The FortiBleed cyber-espionage campaign is actively exploiting Fortinet FortiGate firewalls and SSL VPNs. It's a stealth credential harvesting operation putting thousands of corporate networks at risk.

  • Targets unpatched VPN vulnerabilities and zero-days.
  • Aims at long-term credential theft, bypassing basic MFA.
  • Linked to elements of the Lynx/INC ransomware gang.
FortiBleed VPN campaign ->

OpenAI GPT-5.6 Deployment Paused

OpenAI has paused the release of its GPT-5.6 models (Sol, Terra, Luna) to navigate emerging safety compliance standards. This marks a turning point in AI governance.

  • Focus shifting from raw performance to regulatory alignment.
  • Models flagged in pre-deployment red teaming scenarios.
  • Gives rivals an opening to capture cautious enterprise budgets.
OpenAI delays GPT-5.6 ->

Tech Mahindra Scales Perplexity Pro

Moving beyond experimental deployments, Tech Mahindra has armed its entire global sales organization with Perplexity Enterprise Pro, significantly accelerating presales research.

  • Synthesizes market trends and competitor analysis instantly.
  • Ensures data privacy and strict enterprise controls.
  • A textbook example of high-value, targeted AI integration.
Tech Mahindra Perplexity AI ->

Indian Startups Close June Strong

Defying broader tech slowdowns, Indian startups raised over 1.08 billion in the last week of June. Key investments heavily targeted spacetech, agritech, and deep infrastructure.

  • 18 deals signed spanning complex B2B solutions.
  • Highlights a shift from consumer apps to hard tech.
  • Incuspaze secured 150 crore led by Bharat Value Fund.
Indian startups June funding ->

Key Takeaways

  1. 1Edge security remains critical as FortiBleed persists.
  2. 2AI governance is officially slowing down frontier model rollouts.
  3. 3Venture capital is migrating towards hard tech and regional expertise in India.