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Economic Times14 hours ago
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Ola's AI venture Krutrim lays off over 100, axes Kruti's linguistics team
Ola's AI venture Krutrim lays off over 100, axes Kruti's linguistics team

Business Standard

time4 hours ago

  • Business Standard

Ola's AI venture Krutrim lays off over 100, axes Kruti's linguistics team

Bhavish Aggarwal's artificial intelligence (AI) startup Krutrim has initiated a second wave of layoffs, just weeks after launching its flagship assistant Kruti. According to a report by The Economic Times, more than 100 employees, primarily from the linguistics division, were let go last week, following a smaller round of job cuts in June. The downsizing comes even as Krutrim positions Kruti as India's answer to OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, with ambitions rooted in localisation, multilingual capabilities, and voice-first interactivity tailored to the Indian market. Kruti's language training nears completion In a statement, Krutrim said the layoffs are part of a 'strategic realignment' to build 'leaner, more agile teams", aligning with evolving business priorities. The company declined to confirm exact figures but cautioned against 'publishing unverified reports.' Citing multiple sources, The Economic Times reported that the cuts heavily impacted linguists hired for full-time roles across 10 Indian languages, including Tamil, Odia, Telugu, and Marathi. Many employees had relocated to Bengaluru just months ago. The linguistics team had reportedly grown to around 600 people before the reductions. The linguistic hires were deemed unnecessary as the AI assistant's training is almost complete. The report also cited delayed fundraising and lack of product traction as key reasons behind the restructuring. Krutrim had become a unicorn in 2024 after raising $50 million from Z47 Partners. Around the same time, it launched Krutrim AI Labs and announced a ₹2,000 crore investment into AI development, with founder Bhavish Aggarwal pledging to scale this up to ₹10,000 crore by next year. While Krutrim had initially aimed to raise $500 million, the target was reduced to $300 million due to tepid investor interest. The company's large language model and cloud services, launched in 2024, have reportedly struggled to gain momentum, with several startups opting instead for more mature platforms offered by global hyperscalers. Leadership changes have also added to challenges as nearly a dozen senior executives exited the company in 2024, with further departures taking place in early 2025. Kruti: India's first agentic AI assistant Despite the operational shakeup, Krutrim continues to claim Kruti as India's first agentic AI assistant —designed not just to respond to prompts, but to perform tasks such as booking cabs, paying bills, or ordering food. It currently supports 13 Indian languages. 'Our key differentiator will come with integrating local services,' said Sunit Singh, Senior Vice-President for Product at Krutrim, as earlier reported by Business Standard. 'That's not something that will be very easy for global players to do.' Krutrim aims to embed Kruti into everyday Indian digital life by offering voice-driven services that cater to regional and non-English-speaking populations. While Kruti is powered by Krutrim's proprietary Krutrim V2 model, the company employs a hybrid architecture that includes open-source systems and external models. Krutrim competes with global players like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, as well as Indian startups such as Sarvam AI and

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