Ola’s CEO Bhavish Aggarwal’s startup, Krutrim AI, has launched a new mobile application for its AI assistant and significantly expanded its cloud infrastructure. These initiatives aim to democratize access to Artificial Intelligence technologies, providing robust AI tools to developers and businesses across India.
The newly launched Krutrim AI app, built on the company’s proprietary large language model (LLM), is designed to make AI interactions simpler and more accessible to the public. This development follows Aggarwal’s vision of creating AI solutions that resonate with Indian cultural and linguistic diversity.
Aggarwal said, “We are building our own technology to do energy management to make the most efficient data centers in the world. I am willing to compete with Microsoft, Google, or whoever to say we will do better than them. The cloud cost we pay is the same as the amount paid by American developers. How is it justified? We will resolve that,” Aggarwal said. “Krutrim is an Indian platform for developing global applications,” Aggarwal said. “We are going to make many more models which are useful in the Indian context. We are working on voice models, vision-based models, etc,” he added, outlining Krutrim’s commitment to cater to the specific needs of the Indian market.
Simultaneously, Krutrim Cloud is being rolled out to offer essential AI resources such as GPU-as-a-service at a fraction of the cost of traditional Western platforms. This expansion enhances technological access and aligns with India’s ambitious digital objectives.
As this news broke online, people around the world started sharing their views. Some seemed to appreciate the CEO.
Following him since ola cabs, this guy’s determination and his work ethics is truly remarkable
— Manish vardhann (@manishvardhann) May 2, 2024
However, the launch is shadowed by Bhavish Aggarwal’s recent criticisms of what he termed “pronoun illness” prevalent in Western AI models. He expressed concerns over adopting gender-neutral pronouns by AI, noting a disconnect with Indian cultural practices.
In a vocal post on X (Twitter), Aggarwal shared his interactions with a Western AI that used ‘they‘ instead of ‘he‘ when referring to him, sparking a broader debate on cultural relevance and the imposition of foreign ideological frameworks on AI technologies.
However, people were found criticizing him for such a mindset. Some said there’s no need for new pronouns.
Most of us in India have no clue about politics of this pronouns illness. People do it because it’s become expected in our corporate culture, especially MNCs
Better to send this illness back where it came from. Our culture has always had respect for all. No need for new pronouns pic.twitter.com/lo3eLHDGpH
— Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) May 5, 2024
Aggarwal argues that such features could alienate users in markets like India, where such sensitivities are not traditionally a part of the corporate or social milieu. He criticized the trend of automatically adopting Western norms, which he believes could undermine the cultural ethos and values of Indian society.
Some said that this startup is nothing but a scam.
Comment
byu/Superb_1 from discussion
indevelopersIndia
This stance reflects a growing concern among global technology leaders about the cultural Biases embedded within AI due to the training data’s origin. Such biases are not just theoretical concerns; they shape how AI interacts with users, potentially leading to cultural misunderstandings and social friction.
Some shared Krutrim AI’s glitches and errors.
But why your unicorn ai chatbot knows about Umar Khalid but doesn’t knows about Narendra Modi? pic.twitter.com/1HFlGFdgzg
— Pritish Poswal (@pritishposwal) May 6, 2024
Despite these challenges and criticism, Krutrim AI’s launch is seen as a significant step towards creating an inclusive technology ecosystem that respects and integrates India’s diverse cultural fabric.
For more news and insights, visit AI News on our website.
