Meet Ayush and Aryan, Indian teens whose startup caught Sam Altman's eye

Meet Ayush and Aryan, Indian teens whose startup caught Sam Altman’s eye

It’s not every day you hear about teenagers making it big at such a tender age, but that’s exactly what Aryan Sharma and Ayush Pathak have achieved with their startup, Induced AI.

The youngsters have managed to capture the attention and support of some of the heavyweights in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry as they raised $2.3 million in their seed round in October last year.Â

Think of it like this; if you want to learn cricket, who better to learn from than Sachin Tendulkar, right? Well, in the world of AI, having Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, on board is similar.

Not only do these teens have Altman to help with technology, but they also have investment firms like Peak XV, SV Angel, and a cohort of accomplished founders and operators fuelling their entrepreneurial journey.

How Aryan and Ayush caught Altman’s eye

Aryan Sharma shared the duo’s journey during a podcast on Overpowered, where he revealed their unconventional path to securing support from Sam Altman.

Starting from scratch, Sharma initiated contact with tech personalities around the world through cold emails, beginning at 14. Despite facing resistance, Sharma persisted, even as some recipients asked him to stop contacting them through email.

Not bothered by these setbacks, Sharma and Pathak saved funds together for trips to San Francisco, where they engaged themselves in the tech scene, rubbing shoulders with influential figures like Altman.

Sharma’s tenacity paid off when he finally secured a meeting with Altman, pitching himself to become his secretary to learn from him and his brainchild, OpenAI.

The duo’s persistence paid dividends when they reconnected with Altman during the fundraising phase for Induced AI. Impressed by their dedication and vision, Altman took part in the seed funding round.Â

What does Induced AI do?

Induced AI operates using a browser integrated with an AI agent designed to handle various tasks. The company asserts that its AI workers can automate tasks typically carried out on browsers. They highlight that their AI operates entirely in the cloud, ensuring that it doesn’t interfere with other tasks on the user’s device.

One distinguishing feature of Induced AI is its ability to handle non-deterministic workflows, a departure from the rule-based automation prevalent in conventional RPA (Robotic Process Automation) software. It allows its AI to possess human-like reasoning capabilities, enabling it to interact with web services autonomously, with minimal human intervention required for authentication.

In a tweet, Aryan elaborated, “We empower anyone to create virtual AI workers capable of automating browser workflows in the cloud, exhibiting human-like reasoning.”

The AI industry is poised for growth, with the year 2024 being hailed as the “year of AI,” according to the Hurun Global Unicorn Index.Â

“This has been the year of AI. OpenAI led the way, adding US$80bn of value to be worth US$100bn today. In China, one-year-old Beijing-based Moonshot AI and two-year-old Shanghai-based MiniMax are leading the way for ChatGPT-like products. Others include Atlanta-based OneTrust, which uses AI for data security, UK-based Graphcore, that highlights the global race towards computational capabilities and India-based Glance, which showcases the impact of AI in transforming content consumption on mobile platforms,” said the report.

The Hurun Global Unicorn Index saw the addition of Krutrim, an AI startup from India. The list featured 60 AI startups from the US and 37 from China making it into the unicorn club.Â

Watch Live TV in English

Watch Live TV in Hindi