Welcome to Zero Shot, a weekly podcast by The Ken where Praveen, Brady, and Rohin ponder the latest developments in artificial intelligence—in India and around the world.

This week, Brady starts by considering how backlashes against AI—whether it stems from job displacement, data centre construction, or general unease and uncertainty—gives major tech companies the conditions to centralise the internet even more. This is particularly true in the US, in contrast to a regulatory regime in China that encourages a set of diverse players.

Praveen turns his attention to Deepinder Goyal, the outspoken CEO and co-founder of Zomato, who tweeted out a lengthy treatise in response to strikes by delivery workers. But… it turns out Goyal’s piece of text was probably generated using artificial intelligence. What prompted the change in how Goyal engages with his audience, and what does it mean if more personal messages by business leaders carry this flavour?

Finally, Rohin profiles Emergent, a vibe-coding platform that lets users deploy production-ready apps and websites. It uses a multi-agent system that is favoured by non-technical users, and was one of the most-used tools by participants in The Ken’s recent Case-Build Competition. Founded by twin brothers Mukund and Madhav Jha, Emergent has roped in $30 million in funding and hit $25 million annual recurring revenue in five months.

Zeus, the mascot of Zero Shot, was generated by AI. Everything else is made by humans, just like all articles, columns, newsletters, and other podcasts created by The Ken.

As always, we love hearing from our listeners! Write to us with comments, critiques, suggestions, or just say hi at [email protected]. We respond to everyone who contacts us.

Additional Reading

The January Chasm
https://the-ken.com/newsletter/first-principles/the-january-chasm/

Microsoft: Out with Office, in with Copilot
https://www.office.com

Microsoft CEO begs users to stop calling it “slop”
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/microsoft-satya-nadella-ai-slop

IndiaAI startups resist Centre’s plan to seek equity for support
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/artificial-intelligence/indiaai-startups-resist-centres-plan-to-seek-equity-for-support/articleshow/126356889.cms

Manus gets the best of both worlds—Chinese development for a global product
https://the-ken.com/columns/zero-shot/manus-gets-the-best-of-both-worlds-chinese-development-for-a-global-product/

Mark Zuckerberg: ‘The internet needs new rules. Let’s start in these four areas’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mark-zuckerberg-the-internet-needs-new-rules-lets-start-in-these-four-areas/2019/03/29/9e6f0504-521a-11e9-a3f7-78b7525a8d5f_story.html

‘Last one on this topic, and I have been holding this in myself for a while…’
https://x.com/deepigoyal/status/2007030873711927381

Emergent
https://app.emergent.sh/landing/