Billionaire Flipkart founder Binny Bansal ready to launch stealth AI startup
Binny Bansal is launching an AI-as-a-service startup that will target global customers, expanding to the fast-growing segment after making a fortune in Indian e-commerce.
Bansal, who co-founded online retailer Flipkart and sold it to Walmart Inc., has hired 15 experts for the venture — mostly artificial intelligence scientists — and plans to quickly add more, according to people familiar with the matter. He wants to offer AI talent, products and services to corporate customers, emulating the business model of outsourcing providers like Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Infosys Ltd., the people said, asking to not be named as the effort isn’t yet public.
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Offering CollegeCourseWebsiteIIT DelhiIITD Certificate Programme in Data Science & Machine LearningVisitMITMIT Technology Leadership and InnovationVisitIndian School of BusinessISB Professional Certificate in Product ManagementVisitThe startup’s main operations will be in Bengaluru, and it’s headquartered in Singapore, where it’s in stealth mode for now and will launch its offerings within months, the people said. It also plans to expand to the US, one of the people said.
Companies the world over are looking to harness AI, encouraged by new tools such as the ChatGPT chatbot from Microsoft Corp.-backed OpenAI Inc. That’s resulted in huge demand for AI specialists, and Bansal is looking to tap India’s vast English-speaking, youthful population to train more experts for new types of AI services.
While Bansal is playing his cards close to his vest as to the exact products he plans to offer, he will target the legal and e-commerce industries first, one of the people said. The startup also plans to offer services in
