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 zeroshot@the-ken.com. 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/

It’s the end of 2025, so we don’t have a full episode of Zero Shot for you today.

This podcast launched in September, and we’ve produced 14 episodes for you so far. We’ve covered a wide range of topics, and our conversations—between Praveen, Rohin, and Brady—only work because you’re willing to sit with the complexities we wade into.

We know artificial intelligence will move fast in 2026, so we’ll keep asking the questions that matter in this AI hype cycle. We’re glad you’re coming along with us.

So, thank you, and we’ll be back next week.

As always, if you’d like to get in touch with any or all of our hosts, please drop us a note at zeroshot@the-ken.com. We respond to all messages.

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

Welcome to Zero Shot, The Ken’s weekly podcast that interprets the latest big moves in artificial intelligence—in India and around the world.

This week, Praveen is on leave, but our two other co-hosts held down the fort.

Brady took inspiration from the tagline of a game show, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, to consider some of the wild claims and projections made by OpenAI. Aside from CEO Sam Altman’s public statements, he considered CFO Sarah Friar’s past professional moves, where she made similar (but not as exaggerated) claims about revenue projections when she was Nextdoor’s CEO. It’s a bit of information that retail investors could consider when OpenAI prepares to go public.

Then, Rohin described how AI products lost their novelty in 2025, entering the trough of disillusionment as described by the Gartner hype cycle. This presents an opportunity for companies that can develop products with an “anti-AI premium”, where the absence of artificial intelligence could find fans in customers.

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

If you have comments, critiques, or suggestions, you should share them with us! Write in at zeroshot@the-ken.com. We respond to every listener who contacts us.

Additional Reading

Whose Line Is It Anyway?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whose_Line_Is_It_Anyway%3F_(American_TV_series)

Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre by Keith Johnstone
https://www.amazon.com/Impro-Improvisation-Theatre-Keith-Johnstone/dp/0878301178

Why OpenAI went into crisis PR mode (in November)
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/06/tech/openai-backtracks-government-support-chip-investments

Nextdoor secures dismissal with prejudice in securities class action
https://www.cooley.com/news/coverage/2025/2025-11-20-nextdoor-secures-dismissal-with-prejudice-in-securities-class-action

‘How to disable all the AI features in Firefox to increase performance?’
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1556081/how-to-disable-all-the-ai-features-in-firefox-to-increase-performance

The Gartner hype cycle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gartner_hype_cycle

Eugen Rochko: ‘I've finally switched to the @Vivaldi browser.’
https://mas.to/@Gargron@mastodon.social/115737483372515885

Meta tolerates rampant ad fraud from China to safeguard billions in revenue
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/meta-tolerates-rampant-ad-fraud-china-safeguard-billions-revenue-2025-12-15/

LG will let TV owners delete Microsoft Copilot after customer outcry
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-18/lg-will-let-tv-owners-delete-microsoft-copilot-after-customer-complaints

Join Brady Ng, Praveen Gopal Krishnan, and Rohin Dharmakumar of The Ken as they discuss the big ideas in artificial intelligence. You’ll get the macro view, explore their experiments in practical applications, go deeper than the news coverage you’ve seen, and hear about the implications of the latest developments. Nothing is off the table.