Deepinder Goyal and Navil Noronha: a study in contrasting exits
And what that says about how far Eternal can push its norm-defying acts
The Ken Podcast
A massive storm couldn’t stop The Ken’s latest discussion on AI
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Welcome to the first episode of Zero Shot, The Ken’s podcast on artificial intelligence.
Hosts Brady, Praveen, and Rohin connect from Hong Kong and Bengaluru—braving a typhoon—to dive into the big ideas shaping the world of AI.
In this debut episode, the hosts explore the provocative analogy of whether the world’s biggest AI companies are using the colonial playbook to enter markets like India, and whether India risks becoming a “DAU factory”.
The conversation covers a report by Anthropic that reveals some surprising facts about high- and low-adoption countries.
They also break down the latest revelations about the deal for Tiktok’s US operations.
Wondering about the brontosaurus with black and white stripes? Click play to find out what he’s called and why he is Zero Shot’s mascot.
This episode of Zero Shot was mixed and mastered by Rajiv CN, The Ken’s resident sound engineer.
If you liked this podcast, share it with anyone who might also enjoy it. To get in touch with the hosts, write them at [email protected].
Disclaimer: Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma is an investor in The Ken.
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Bonus Reading:
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists — The AI Raj: How tech giants are recolonizing power
https://thebulletin.org/2025/09/the-ai-raj-how-tech-giants-are-recolonizing-power/
The Economist — AI is erupting in India
https://www.economist.com/asia/2025/09/17/ai-is-erupting-in-india
The Ken — India goes from free internet to free AI
https://the-ken.com/columns/zero-shot/india-goes-from-free-internet-to-free-ai/
The Guardian — The inside story of Facebook’s biggest setback
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/may/12/facebook-free-basics-india-zuckerberg
Financial Times — EU to block Big Tech from new financial data sharing system
https://www.ft.com/content/6596876f-c831-482c-878c-78c1499ef543
India Today — India picks 8 firms, including IIT Bombay, to build a massive 1 trillion parameter AI model
https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/india-picks-8-firms-including-iit-bombay-to-build-a-massive-1-trillion-parametre-ai-model-2789824-2025-09-19
Anthropic Economic Index report: Uneven geographic and enterprise AI adoption
https://www.anthropic.com/research/anthropic-economic-index-september-2025-report
Wall Street Journal — Deal to Keep TikTok in US Is Near. These Are the Details.
https://www.wsj.com/tech/tiktok-deal-us-china-details-b383abe4
And what that says about how far Eternal can push its norm-defying acts
The Walmart-backed company commands nearly half of India’s digital-payments landscape. But its financials trail its smaller, listed rival
As the logistics firm plans to pour IPO money into new warehouses and long leases, incumbents are squeezing returns from assets they locked in when land was cheaper, and rents were lower
The Ken has learnt that the Centre is holding deeper discussions on allowing private schools to run as for-profit entities to encourage transparency and long-term steady growth
A complex system with feedback loops that pulls us towards a future we imagine possible
Private labels meet brand ambition
So far, only Wechat seems to have cracked the code to creating an apps-within-an-app ecosystem. Can AI take it to the rest of the world?
The IT services firm is seeking a secondary listing to match the valuation of its Indian rivals. But logistical and regulatory challenges lie in the way
The co-founder on how Darwinbox grew quietly before it grew big
In this episode, we unpack the rise of what we are calling the “fitness warrior”. This is a new professional archetype where work follows the same logic as sport: optimise, train, perform.
As India’s data law kicks in, WhatsApp outreach is getting regulated, and a new compliance market is emerging fast
The IT services firm is seeking a secondary listing to match the valuation of its Indian rivals. But logistical and regulatory challenges lie in the way
The Sequoia-backed cross-border remittance startup Aspora wants to win over 15 million NRIs at all costs, and it has to decide which cost it wants to bear—regulatory or cross-border realities
The Supreme Court’s recent guidelines and a state’s AI mandate hint at a fragmented overhaul—one testing whether tech can cut through decades of procedural drag
Here are the ones—whether it’s The Nutgraf, Long and Short, or Trade Tricks—that you didn’t expect
Here are the stories that our subscribers read and shared the most in 2025
Here are some of the episodes—across our six different podcasts—that listeners loved
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