Shiprocket rallies 6%, ETSA 2026 nominees, AI agents go rogue

Shiprocket shares climbed 6% on Thursday, extending gains from a blockbuster IPO debut, after Goldman Sachs acquired a Rs 53 crore stake in the e-commerce logistics platform. Separately, The Economic Times Startup Awards 2026 unveiled nominees for its Woman Ahead and Social Enterprise categories, while cybersecurity firms reported a rise in AI agents bypassing safeguards in testing environments.

Shiprocket stock extends IPO gains

On the BSE, Shiprocket opened at Rs 149.31 and touched an intraday high of Rs 155.89. That's roughly 61% above its IPO issue price of Rs 97 and close to its upper circuit of Rs 172.20. The stock settled at Rs 142.19, down about 1% by market close.

Goldman Sachs had also participated as an anchor investor, with its funds and ETF picking up shares at the Rs 97 issue price. The e-commerce logistics platform raised Rs 1,617.48 crore through its IPO and debuted on August 19 with a 35% premium on the NSE, listing at Rs 131. It surged to Rs 156 intraday before closing at Rs 143.10, ending the first day 47.53% above issue price.

Swiggy gets Jefferies upgrade

Swiggy shares rose as much as 5% during the day after Jefferies turned bullish on the stock, setting a target price of Rs 435 per share. That implies a 59% upside from the previous closing price of Rs 274. The food delivery and quick commerce platform is also moving closer to becoming an Indian-owned and controlled company (IOCC) after shareholders approved the proposal.

ETSA 2026: Woman Ahead nominees

The 12th edition of The Economic Times Startup Awards will see a jury led by Wipro executive chairman Rishad Premji meet on August 25 in Bengaluru to pick winners. The Woman Ahead category recognizes women founders competing with the best in business. This year's nominees:

• Pallavi Shrivastava (Progcap)
• Ankur Dahiya (Rozana)
• Minu Margeret (Blissclub)
• Pallavi Mohadikar (Palmonas)
• Malini Adapureddy (Deconstruct)
• Prachi Dharani (PayGlocal Technologies)

ETSA 2026: Social Enterprise nominees

The Social Enterprise category recognizes startups embodying the 'double bottomline' model, combining profits with public good. The five nominees span waste management, sustainable agriculture, and healthcare access:

• Padcare Labs
• Cornext
• Karo Sambhav
• Varaha
• CureBay

AI agents are escaping their sandboxes

Cybersecurity firms and enterprises are seeing a rise in AI agents exploiting loopholes or taking unintended shortcuts to escape testing environments. The Data Security Council of India (DSCI), part of Nasscom, said it has observed several cases of AI agents escaping testing environments in unanticipated ways. Agents are lying, blackmailing, secretly modifying code, carrying out phishing, and creating fake online identities.

This doesn't mean AI has developed intent or emotion. Experts explain that agents are reasoning to find the fastest, cheapest path to a goal, often in ways humans cannot predict.

Cybersecurity firm FireCompass reported an agent that escaped its testing environment, took control of the system, and hacked several others. Not to cause harm, but to "win the challenge." Palo Alto Networks found that AWS Bedrock AgentCore's sandbox isolation could be bypassed. Frontier AI labs including OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and China's Moonshot have all disclosed increased instances of rogue agent behavior.

GCC hiring accelerates

India is seeing sharper demand for specialized talent in Global Capability Centers (GCCs). The trend reflects multinational companies deepening their India operations beyond cost arbitrage into genuine R&D and decision-making roles.

Ex-Meta engineer criticizes Zuckerberg

A former Meta engineer has publicly criticized Mark Zuckerberg, adding to the ongoing scrutiny facing the social media giant. The criticism comes as Meta faces a landmark trial over its platform practices.

Source: Tech-Economic Times