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Ola Electric teased its upcoming electric scooter for months, and it finally delivered over the weekend with the big unveil. The Ola S1 and S1 Pro models were just announced, showing off high-tech features, best-in-class performance, and shockingly low prices.

Produced locally in Ola’s giant electric scooter megafactory with a planned capacity of 10 million vehicles per year, the S1 and S1 Pro electric scooters are rolling out with an eye on both domestic Indian sales and international exports.

Today the scooters look like leaders in the local market, but tomorrow could see shockwaves reverberate globally.

That’s because the two models offer better performance than any other comparably-sized electric scooters.

An 8.5 kW electric motor mounted within the scooter’s frame provides the S1 with a top speed of 90 km/h (56 mph) and an even faster top speed in the S1 Pro of 115 km/h (71 mph).

An innovated banana-shaped battery pack under the rider’s feet offers 3 kWh of capacity and 121 km (75 miles) of range. In the high spec S1 Pro, those figures increase to 4 kWh and 181 km (112 mi) of range.

Dual single-supported wheels add to the attractive styling

The battery is not removable, but can be quick charged most of the way in around 30 minutes. An 18 minute charge on an Ola quick charger will provide 75 km (46 miles) of range.

Most riders will likely charge overnight though, where home charging with a 750W portable charger will take around 4.5 hours on the S1 and 6.5 hours on the S1 Pro.

The under-foot mounting of the battery lower’s the scooters center of gravity and maximizes the storage space under the seat.

Ola claims that riders can fit two helmets in the 36L storage compartment. Most scooters require bolting on a large rear trunk to get anywhere near that kind of storage space.

The high performance of the scooters might not even be their biggest selling points. Instead, the technology-packed OS is what truly sets these scooters apart from pretty much anything else currently on the market.

The 121 kg (267 lb) scooters come with a large 7″ color touch screen that displays GPS-based map navigation in addition to typical performance readouts on user-selectable skins.

Just like your cell phone, the scooter also packs a digital voice assistant. Saying to the scooter “Hey Ola, play some music.” will pull up your playlist and get the tunes cranking out of the scooter’s built-in speaker system.

Riders can even take calls via the scooter’s OS by connecting their phones.

Speaking of phones, the scooter’s app provides a high level of control. Riders can pop the trunk, adjust lighting, set geo-fencing boundaries, modify electronic sound profiles (or remove them entirely), create rider profiles and more.

Profiles can be installed on the scooter for friends and family members so that the scooter remembers each riders’ performance customizations and user interface modifications.

Proximity sensors mean that the scooter can unlock for the rider as he or she approaches, no key needed. Walking away from the scooter automatically locks it.

Compared to other leading electric scooters, Ola’s models don’t just offer better performance and fancier features – they’re also much more affordable. Pricing starts at Rs 99,999 (approximately US $1,350). Some Indian states have local incentives that drop the price down to as low as Rs 79,999 (approximately US $1,050).

The scooters will be available in 10 different colors, with reservations opening on September 8th ahead of expected delivery in October.

Electrek’s Take

It is hard to overstate how big of a deal this is, not just for India but also for the world.

India represents one of the largest two-wheeler markets anywhere, but the vast majority are gas-powered. Many Indian startups have presented interesting electric solutions, but the higher prices have prevented larger scale adoption. Now Ola’s scooters can match both the performance and the price of many gas-powered motorbikes in India.

But it isn’t just about India anymore. While most electric scooter manufacturers in India haven’t even begun to talk about exports, Ola has made international exports a key part of the company’s plan from the start. With an initial production rate of 2 million vehicles per year at the company’s megafactory, followed by a planned 10 million/year capacity, Ola is fully expecting to export its electric scooters to the international market.

Prices will no doubt be higher outside of India, but when you start with a base of $1,350, there’s plenty of room to go. For comparison, I love my NIU NGT Pro electric scooter and it is my daily driver, but it costs around $4,600 in the US and scores below the Ola S1 in just about every category.

So if Ola can begin exporting an attractive, fast and high-tech electric scooter that costs less but does more than the current market leaders, then we very well may be looking at a paradigm shift in the electric scooter industry towards a whole new type of vehicle.

I’m not normally so bullish about a new launch, but damn.


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Ariana Grande rushed by red carpet intruder at premiere of Wicked: For Good

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Ariana Grande rushed by red carpet intruder at premiere of Wicked: For Good

Video footage has shown the moment singer and actress Ariana Grande was accosted by a fan at a film premiere.

Ms Grande was in Singapore for the debut of Wicked: For Good when the incident unfolded on Thursday.

The video captured the moment the fan scaled the barricade and pushed past photographers towards Ms Grande.

Pic: tacotrvck_vb/X/via REUTERS
Image:
Pic: tacotrvck_vb/X/via REUTERS

He then threw his arms around her, before co-star Cynthia Erivo intervened and security swoops in to stop him.

The man, now identified as Johnson Wen, 26, is reportedly a notorious red carpet crasher.

Wen, who has since been charged with being a public nuisance, goes by the nickname Pyjama Man, and gloated as he shared footage of the intrusion online.

“Dear Ariana Grande, Thank You for letting me Jump on the Yellow Carpet with You,” he wrote on Instagram.

More on Ariana Grande

Pic: tacotrvck_vb/X/via REUTERS
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Pic: tacotrvck_vb/X/via REUTERS

In video stories posted to the site beforehand, he was seen at the Universal Studios venue, revealing his intentions.

In one, he said: “I feel like I’m in a dream, that’s my best friend, Ariana Grande, and I’m gonna meet her. I’ve been dreaming about that.”

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The Australian has ambushed several performers on stage, according to reports, including Katy Perry and The Chainsmokers at concerts in Sydney, and The Weeknd in Melbourne.

It has been reported that Wen intends to plead guilty and that he could face a fine of more than £1,000.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo at the London premiere for Wicked: For Good
Image:
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo at the London premiere for Wicked: For Good

Ms Grande took a moment to gather herself in the aftermath of the intrusion, visibly shocked by the incident.

She didn’t address the incident on her own Instagram, but shared some photos with the caption “thank you, Singapore”, adding “we love you”.

The singer battled post-traumatic stress disorder after her 2017 concert in Manchester was bombed, leaving 22 people dead.

She told Vogue in 2018: “It’s hard to talk about because so many people have suffered such severe, tremendous loss. But, yeah, it’s a real thing.

“I know those families and my fans, and everyone there experienced a tremendous amount of it as well. Time is the biggest thing.

“I feel like I shouldn’t even be talking about my own experience – like I shouldn’t even say anything. I don’t think I’ll ever know how to talk about it and not cry.”

In the same interview she also addressed her own anxiety, saying she has “always” had it.

Ms Grande plays Galinda Upland in Wicked: For Good, the character who becomes Glinda the Good Witch. Ms Erivo plays Elphaba, the character who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West.

The film is released in UK cinemas on 21 November.

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A third of daily music uploads are AI-generated and 97% of people can’t tell the difference, says report

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A third of daily music uploads are AI-generated and 97% of people can't tell the difference, says report

Do you care if the music you’re listening to is artificially generated?

That question – once the realm of science fiction – is becoming increasingly urgent.

An AI-generated country track, Walk My Walk, is currently sitting at number one on the US Billboard chart of digital sales and a new report by streaming platform Deezer has revealed the sheer scale of AI production in the music industry.

Deezer’s AI-detection system found that around 50,000 fully AI-generated tracks are now uploaded every day, accounting for 34% of all daily uploads.

File pic: iStock
Image:
File pic: iStock

The true number is most likely higher, as Deezer’s AI-detection system does not catch every AI-generated track. Nor does this figure include partially AI-generated tracks.

In January 2025, Deezer’s system identified 10% of uploaded tracks as fully AI-generated.

Since then, the proportion of AI tracks – made using written prompts such as “country, 1990s style, male singer” – has more than tripled, leading the platform’s chief executive, Alexis Lanternier, to say that AI music is “flooding music streaming”.

More on Artificial Intelligence

‘Siphoning money from royalty pool’

What’s more, when Deezer surveyed 9,000 people in eight countries – the US, Canada, Brazil, UK, France, Netherlands, Germany and Japan – and asked them to detect whether three tracks were real or AI, 97% could not tell the difference.

That’s despite the fact that the motivation behind the surge of AI music is not in the least bit creative, according to Deezer. The company says that roughly 70% of fully AI-generated tracks are what it calls “fraudulent” – that is, designed purely to make money.

“The common denominator is the ambition to boost streams on specific tracks in order to siphon money from the royalty pool,” a Deezer spokesperson told Sky News.

“With AI-generated content, you can easily create massive amounts of tracks that can be used for this purpose.”

File pic: Reuters
Image:
File pic: Reuters


The tracks themselves are not actually fraudulent, Deezer says, but the behaviour around them is. Someone will upload an AI track then use an automated system – a bot – to listen to a song over and over again to make royalties from it.

Even though the total number of streams for each individual track is very low – Deezer estimates that together they account for 0.5% of all streams – the work needed to make an AI track is so tiny that the rewards justify the effort.

Are fully-AI tracks being removed?

Deezer is investing in AI-detection software and has filed two patents for systems that spot AI music. But it is not taking down the tracks it marks as fully-AI.

Instead it removes them from algorithmic recommendations and editorial playlists, a measure designed to stop the tracks getting streams and therefore generating royalties, and marks the tracks as “AI-generated content”.

“If people want to listen to an AI-generated track however, they can and we are not stopping them from doing so – we just want to make sure they are making a conscious decision,” the Deezer spokesperson says.

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The extraordinary impact of a crime on UK growth

Concerns about artists’ livelihoods

Deezer’s survey found that more than half (52%) of respondents felt uncomfortable with not being able to tell the difference between AI and human-made music.

“The survey results clearly show that people care about music and want to know if they’re listening to AI or human-made tracks or not,” said the company’s boss Alexis Lanternier.

“There’s also no doubt that there are concerns about how AI-generated music will affect the livelihood of artists.”

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Musicians protests AI copyright plans

Earlier this year, more than 1,000 musicians – including Annie Lennox, Damon Albarn and Kate Bush – released a silent album to protest plans by the UK government to let artificial intelligence companies use copyright-protected work without permission.

A recent study commissioned by the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers suggested that generative AI music could be worth £146bn a year in 2028 and account for around 60% of music libraries’ revenues.

By this metric, the authors concluded, 25% of creators’ revenues are at risk by 2028, a sum of £3.5bn.

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BBC apologises to Donald Trump over editing of Panorama but says there isn’t ‘basis for defamation claim’

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BBC apologises to Donald Trump over editing of Panorama but says there isn't 'basis for defamation claim'

The BBC has apologised to Donald Trump over the editing of a speech in a Panorama programme in 2024.

The corporation said it was an “error of judgement” and the programme will “not be broadcast again in this form on any BBC platforms”.

But it added that it “strongly” disagrees that there is “a basis for a defamation claim”.

It emerged earlier, Donald Trump’s legal team said the US president had not yet filed a lawsuit against the BBC over the
broadcaster’s editing of a speech he made in 2021 on the day his supporters overran the Capitol building.

The legal team sent a letter over the weekend threatening to sue the media giant for $1bn and issuing three demands:

• Issue a “full and fair retraction” of the Panorama programme
• Apologise immediately
• “Appropriately compensate” the US president

On Sunday evening, two of the BBC’s top figures, including the director-general, resigned amid the edit and concerns about impartiality.

More from Ents & Arts

In a statement, the corporation said: “Lawyers for the BBC have written to President Trump’s legal team in response to a letter received on Sunday.

“BBC Chair Samir Shah has separately sent a personal letter to the White House making clear to President Trump that he and the Corporation are sorry for the edit of the President’s speech on 6 January 2021, which featured in the programme.

“The BBC has no plans to rebroadcast the documentary ‘Trump: A Second Chance?’ on any BBC platforms.

“While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim.”

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