Krutrim’s Recent Layoffs in AI Unit

Krutrim, the artificial intelligence division of Ola, has recently let go of approximately 50 staff members from its linguistics department. This marks the third phase of layoffs since June, as reported by ET. Among those impacted are team leaders and transcribers focusing on regional languages like Bengali, Malayalam, and Punjabi. Overall, over 200 employees have exited the company this year, including leaders.

Details on Layoff Phases

Earlier in July, Krutrim reduced its workforce by more than 100 employees during its second layoff phase. These workforce reductions are occurring as Krutrim develops its most extensive language model to date, known as Krutrim 3, which is expected to be a multibillion-parameter model.

Official Statement from Krutrim

In an official statement provided to the media, the company indicated that these job reductions are part of a broader “strategic realignment” aimed at creating more efficient teams dedicated to its AI platform. The firm noted that the current data annotation stage involving linguistic tasks has been finalised.

Leadership Exits and Company Challenges

Since April, at least six senior executives have departed, including the heads of AI data, software engineering, cloud architecture, and corporate finance. This follows earlier exits of over 20 staff members across various levels in FY25. Krutrim’s AI products, which include offerings like Krutrim Cloud and its extensive language model, have struggled to gain momentum due to existing technology gaps.

App Performance and Funding Insights

According to SensorTower, Krutrim’s AI assistant application, Kruti, has been downloaded 207,000 times since its launch in June. The company has managed to raise around $75 million, officially entering the unicorn realm in January 2024, with investors such as Z47 (previously known as Matrix) and the Sarin Family.

Future Plans and Developments

In December of the previous year, Aggarwal secured debt funding through debenture issuance by pledging his Ola Electric shares for Krutrim. There were also reports that the company was in negotiations to raise $300 million in a new funding round, although these claims were officially denied by the company.

Data Center Expansion and Acquisitions

Furthermore, the company has disclosed its intention to expand its data centre capacity to 1 GW by 2028, committing up to $1.2 billion in investments over the forthcoming years. Recently, Krutrim also acquired BharatSahAIyak, a firm concentrated on AI solutions for the public sector, from the technology consulting company Samagra.