Bhavish Aggarwal's AI start-up fires 100+ in second layoff round
What's the story
Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal's AI start-up, Krutrim, has initiated a second round of layoffs, eliminating over 100 jobs, primarily in its linguistics division. This move affects employees hired less than six months ago to train its agentic AI assistant, Kruti, across multiple Indian languages. In June, Krutrim had already laid off more than a dozen staff in an earlier reduction.
Company response
Company calls layoffs 'strategic realignment'
In a statement to ET, Krutrim explained the layoffs as part of a strategic realignment and its commitment to efficient capital deployment. The company said it is "building leaner, more agile teams" in line with evolving business priorities. This transition is in line with their long-term vision of creating India's own full-stack AI platform. At its peak, the linguistics team employed roughly 600 people working on language training across ten languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Odia and Marathi.
Product impact
Almost 80% of training done for the AI assistant
The layoffs at Krutrim came after the company launched its agentic AI assistant, Kruti, in June. A source told ET that "almost 80% of the training has been done for the AI assistant" and they don't need as many people as before. This change in organizational priority is due to external factors like funding delays and lack of traction for its products.