Ola’s Krutrim cuts 50 jobs in linguistics team in third layoff

AI unicorn ola Krutrim has reportedly cut around 50 roles in its linguistics team as part of a strategic restructuring. 

According to media reports, those affected include team leads and transcribers working on regional languages such as Bengali, Malayalam, and Punjabi.

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So far this year, over 200 employees have left Ola Krutrim Datalabs, including senior leaders. In July, the company conducted its second round of layoffs, letting go of more than 100 employees.

The layoffs come as Krutrim works on its largest language model, Krutrim 3, a multibillion-parameter AI model. 

In a statement, the company said the cuts are part of a “strategic realignment” to build leaner teams focused on its AI platform, noting that the current data annotation phase involving linguistics work has been completed.

Since April, at least six senior executives at Ola Krutrim Datalabs—including heads of AI data, software engineering, cloud architecture, and corporate finance—have resigned. This follows over 20 earlier exits across levels in FY25.

The company’s AI products, including Krutrim Cloud and its large language model offerings, have struggled to gain traction due to technology gaps. Its AI assistant app, Kruti, has been downloaded 207,000 times since launching in June, according to SensorTower.

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Krutrim joined the unicorn club in January 2024 after raising around $75 million from investors such as Z47 (formerly Matrix) and the Sarin Family.

In December 2024, Aggarwal pledged his Ola Electric shares to secure debt funding through debenture issuance. The company was reportedly in talks to raise $300 million in a new round, but it has officially denied these reports.

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