Evening digest: IMF's global growth forecast, Madagascar crisis, Google's India bet

Tuesday has been a big day in global news.

The IMF has raised its growth forecast for 2025, Madagascar faces a major political shake-up, Oracle is making waves in the AI chip race, and Google is betting $15 billion on a massive AI data center in India.

Here’s a quick look at the stories shaping economies and tech around the world.

IMF raises global growth forecast

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) nudged up its global growth forecast for 2025 to 3.2%, slightly higher than the 3.0% it predicted in July and well above the 2.8% it expected back in April.

This boost comes thanks to the positive effects of lower tariffs and generally better financial conditions around the world. Looking ahead to 2026, growth is expected to ease a bit, landing around 3.1%.

But it’s not all smooth sailing. The IMF warns that there are still plenty of risks on the horizon, like unresolved trade tensions, especially the possibility of a new US-China trade dispute, that could seriously slow things down.

Advanced economies like the US and the eurozone are likely to see modest improvements, while emerging markets might slow slightly, with growth hovering just above 4%.

Overall, the picture is cautiously optimistic.

Policymakers are being urged to stick to predictable, sustainable strategies to help economies stay resilient and to keep investing in innovation, especially given all the geopolitical and economic uncertainties out there.

Madagascar Army takes control

Madagascar is going through a major shake-up. The country’s top court has asked Colonel Michael Randrianirina to step in as the new president after a military takeover.

This comes after President Andry Rajoelina fled the country amid massive youth-led protests over water and electricity shortages.

The military had already stepped in, taking control of the country and dissolving several key institutions, though the lower house of parliament, which had impeached Rajoelina, remains intact.

The court has now tasked Randrianirina with organizing new elections within the next 60 days.

During the transition, a military-led committee is set to govern Madagascar for up to two years, which could include a constitutional referendum.

Rajoelina reportedly left the country for his own safety following an alleged assassination attempt, with sources saying he was evacuated by a French military plane.

The crisis follows weeks of unrest, with some military officials defecting to support the protesters calling for the president’s resignation.

Oracle's major move in AI space

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure is making a big move in the AI space.

The company plans to roll out 50,000 AMD Instinct MI450 AI chips starting in the second half of 2026, marking it as the first major cloud provider to offer an AI supercluster powered by these processors.

Each rack will pack up to 72 GPUs, all working together as a single, high-powered system, perfect for handling massive AI workloads.

This move also puts Oracle in more direct competition with Nvidia, which currently dominates the AI chip market.

Oracle’s senior VP, Karan Batta, shared his confidence in AMD, especially for AI inferencing tasks.

The partnership comes on the heels of AMD’s multi-year deal with OpenAI and reflects a bigger trend: cloud providers are increasingly diversifying their AI hardware options to keep up with skyrocketing demand for AI infrastructure.

Google to invest $15 billion in India

Google is making a huge bet on India. The company announced a $15 billion investment to build its biggest AI data center hub outside the US, right in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

Spread over five years from 2026 to 2030, the project will include a 1-gigawatt data center campus packed with advanced AI tech, renewable energy, and even a new subsea cable network to boost connectivity.

The goal is to strengthen India’s AI capabilities and meet the growing demand for cloud and AI services, while also creating more than 180,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian called it a “digital backbone” for India’s AI growth. This hub is part of Google’s global network across 12 countries and really underscores India’s rising role in the world of tech infrastructure.