Ola’s Aggarwal sets eyes on AI, semiconductor design

Indian entrepreneur Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder of ride-hailing patient Ola and electrical conveyance startup Ola Electric, is venturing into caller terrain arsenic he navigates his businesses towards first nationalist offerings.

He has group up an AI startup that seeks to create a ample connection exemplary and is presently scouting 2 U.S.-headquartered AI startups for a imaginable acquisition, group acquainted pinch The matter said. Aggarwal is besides in talks to raise complete $50 cardinal for The caller AI venture, The group said.

The entrepreneur, who founded Ola complete a decade ago, has besides floated The thought of mounting up a semiconductor creation firm, 1 personification said, requesting anonymity arsenic The specifications are not public. It’s unclear whether The semiconductor creation patient will beryllium portion of The aforesaid AI venture.

A spokesperson for Aggarwal declined to remark Monday.

AI and semiconductor designing are The latest of a long-list of areas that Aggarwal has explored in The past decade. Ola leads The Indian ride-hailing marketplace whereas Ola Electric has assumed a leader position in India’s electrical scooter marketplace pinch astir 250,000 vehicles sold in The past twelvemonth and a half, according to Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles.

He told Bloomberg past period that Ola had turned profitable whereas Ola Electric had “grown and matured faster” than first plans, prompting him to beforehand The timeline for The EV startup’s first nationalist offering.

The caller surge in AI liking has prompted a boost to The tech economy, delivering a rally in tech stocks and generating a flurry of startup activity. OpenAI’s unveiling of ChatGPT has been a cardinal trigger for The enthusiasm, starring investors to deploy complete $20 cardinal into AI startups in The past quarters. However, India, contempt being 1 of The astir important startup ecosystems, appears to beryllium lagging in this race.

“Normally subject enables technologies. AI exertion will alteration important acceleration of technological progress. Science coming is still experimental, empirical and relies connected The clip and productivity of The scientist,” he tweeted past week. “AI will springiness The intelligence important imaginative and intelligence leverage. Can we in India go a starring subject ecosystem by adopting AI crossed technological domains?”

On The different hand, Aggarwal’s assertive description into caller and often unrelated sectors and their consequent firm structures person antecedently rattled immoderate of his investors. Many backers of Ola, for instance, person expressed concerns astir not getting a liking in Ola Electric, which spun retired of The ride-hailing firm, group acquainted pinch The matter said.