London Startup Allegedly Deceived Microsoft with Fake AI Engineers

There have now been serious allegations of fraud against London-based startup Builder.ai, once considered a disruptor of software development and valued at $1.5 billion. Builder.ai is now in bankruptcy. The company claims that its artificial intelligence-based platform will revolutionise app development. With the help of its AI-assisted platform, Natasha, the company claims that building software will be easier than ordering pizza. 

The recent revelations, however, have revealed a starkly different reality: instead of employing cutting-edge AI technology, Builder.ai reportedly relies on hundreds of human developers in India, who manually execute customer requests while pretending to be AI-generated results.

Having made elaborate misrepresentations about this company, Microsoft and Qatar Investment Authority invested $445 million, led by the false idea that they were backed by a scalable, AI-based solution, which resulted in over $445 million in funding being raised. This scandal has sparked a wider conversation about transparency, ethics, and the hype-driven nature of the startup ecosystem, as well as raised serious concerns about due diligence in the AI investment landscape. 

In 2016, Builder.ai, which was founded by entrepreneur Sachin Dev Duggal under the name Engineer.ai, was conceived with a mission to revolutionise app development. In the company’s brand, the AI-powered, no-code platfor

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