Nikhil Somwanshi was a 24-year-old machine-learning engineer in southeast Bengaluru who earned $41,000 US per year—nearly 10 times what his family was able to earn farming. Somwanshi, under heavy pressure to work more and more hours under the constant threat of AI-induced layoffs, took his own life in May, 2025. As Parth MN reports for Rest of World, Indian tech employees like Somwanshi, with worries about layoffs and facing demands for unpaid overtime, are burning out, giving up hope, and turning to suicide.
Founded by Bhavish Aggarwal, one of India’s top entrepreneurs, Krutrim was positioned as India’s answer to ChatGPT. Aggarwal has pushed an intense work ethic within the company. He derided work-life balance as “a Western cultural import” and advocated for a 70-hour workweek. “I have a strong belief that one generation will have to do tapasya [penance],” he has said, “so that we can build the number one country in the world.”
Krutrim has been criticized for its work culture, with one Indian outlet describing it as “toxic, unsustainable and mentally draining.” Last year, a 38-year-old engineer at Ola Electric, another of Aggarwal’s startups, reportedly wrote a 28-page note in which he blamed his seniors for harassment and withholding his salary. Then he consumed poison, and died by suicide. The man’s family filed a police complaint against Aggarwal and another senior executive.
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