The Uttar Pradesh government has cancelled a ₹25,000 crore memorandum of understanding (MoU) with AI startup Puch AI amid criticism over the company's credentials.
The state government said the decision was reached after a review of the agreement, citing the company's failure to provide necessary details on time.
Due diligence showed a lack of net worth and credible financial linkages for the project's scale, prompting the cancellation of the MoU.
The UP government said the decision was made in the interest of transparency and highest level of probity in governance.
Puch AI, founded roughly a year ago, offers a voice-first AI service via WhatsApp, but critics have dismissed the product as a "wrapper" built atop existing AI models.
