Manik

I build random stuff

[Manik @ManikMkr]

@th2049 this is genius

[Alex Sidorenko @asidorenko_]

Don't be a meat proxy

[Manik @ManikMkr]

@code_kartik @mem0ai @taranjeetio @deshrajdry Congrats!

[Manik @ManikMkr]

I got top 15 for building https://t.co/H8f4kGW4Tk

Couldn’t have done this without @nexxeln

[OpenCode @opencode]

Good luck to everybody taking part in the OpenCode Buildathon today

Unfortunately we had limited space and a lot of people who signed up couldn't participate - you'll get an email from us with a free month of OpenCode Go

[Manik @ManikMkr]

Having a great time here!
@GrowthX_Club @opencode

[OpenCode @opencode]

Good luck to everybody taking part in the OpenCode Buildathon today

Unfortunately we had limited space and a lot of people who signed up couldn't participate - you'll get an email from us with a free month of OpenCode Go

[Tushar @ditsuke]

To celebrate the new edition of DDIA, revive my writing discipline and my resolve to read the whole damn thing this time, I share my first blog in years: LSM Trees from First Principles.

https://t.co/ya79LTJgZa

[yuyu @yukti_x]

A friend's bag is lost at the Delhi AI Impact Summit this evening. Had a laptop, wallet and other misc. RTs are gonna help 🙏 It could reach someone who found it or someone who can help

[Manik @ManikMkr]

@siddharthb_ Exciting developments 🙏

[N Chandrababu Naidu @ncbn]

Municipal Administration Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh signs an MoU with Puch AI. This partnership aims to deploy AI solutions designed to enhance the productivity of urban SHG women operating in the retail sector.

@siddharthb_ and @puch_ai

[Manik @ManikMkr]

@puch_ai Insane!!

[Manik @ManikMkr]

@WHYkalwani Haha indeed! Can’t wait for the next one

[Manik @ManikMkr]

Did not expect this event to pop off. Had a great time

[Yash Kalwani @WHYkalwani]

Had a great time hosting @amanrsanger, Co-Founder of @cursor_ai, at Café Cursor Mumbai 🚀

Not every day you get to chat over a cup of coffee with someone building the future!

A true 'region-India' celebration as @benln likes to put it

Let's go! @ftnabeelah @sanjeed_i

[Manik @ManikMkr]

@viditchess @Ra1kshit Great talking to you at cursor cafe about memorychess!

[Manik @ManikMkr]

@dead8309 😭

[Manik @ManikMkr]

@TablePlus i liked the top bar thin, with a squared-off status bar. will there be a compact mode?

[Manik @ManikMkr]

@DebJaykar yooo can i get one

[Manik @ManikMkr]

@ditsuke

[Manik @ManikMkr]

@ditsuke Shoulda just taken the sleeper bus

[Manik @ManikMkr]

@ajeetunc @puch_ai All the best Ajeet!

[Manik @ManikMkr]

@PiyushGoyal We should celebrate AI made in India as well

[Siddharth Bhatia @siddharthb_]

Why did we buy India’s most expensive number?
Because India deserves its own AI.

Sovereign AI is a bigger priority than even nuclear energy in ways we can’t yet imagine. China is already releasing powerful open-source models, but every single one of them calls Arunachal Pradesh “South Tibet.” That’s how subtle propaganda seeps in. Relying on the US or any other foreign country is no safer.

That’s why we’re building Puch AI: India’s first AI, the true gateway to AI for a billion+ people. Over the last decade, India has witnessed three defining shifts: Jio made the internet accessible, UPI revolutionized payments, and Quick Commerce redefined shopping. The next leap is mass AI adoption. Why begin with WhatsApp? Because for most Indians, apps are friction. After WhatsApp, we launched AI through voice calls. Will it always be free? Yes, even though many warned us that if it’s free, people would dismiss it as “second-class.” For us, accessibility and empowerment come first.

A few days ago, I was in an Uber and asked the driver to try Puch. He thought for a while and then asked: “What’s my wife doing at home right now?” That’s India, curious about AI, but still new and unsure where to begin.

Today, nearly a million people use Puch every month, but here’s the part I love most: more than 60% are experiencing AI for the very first time. In small towns, people use Puch in their own languages, often through voice notes, because that’s how they naturally communicate. For first-time users, AI has to feel exciting and magical, not lifeless. That’s why we introduced stickers just like ChatGPT did with Ghibli, brought old photos to life through video, and now done something similar for voice calling: just pick up the phone, call Puch on WhatsApp or SIM, and find out.

The obvious crab mentality question: Can Puch AI compete with OpenAI, Meta, and Google? Despite minimal resources, and even with WhatsApp’s restrictions, Puch already offers better video generation than Grok (sorry, Elon) and stronger multilingual support than Meta AI, all of it fully self-hosted without using any external APIs. If we wanted, we’d love to beat them at their game. But the bigger game is having them come to us for distribution. That’s the only game I’m playing, and the one I intend to win. There’s plenty of news about OpenAI, Google, and Meta trying to expand into India. But if we can reject an acquisition worth millions, if one of our own employees can turn down a personal offer from Sam Altman, the only way they beat us here is by bribing government officials. Nothing else would be enough.

Real behavioral change, and yes, unlimited iPhone giveaways, requires capital. If you only move when others clap, watch this and cheer from the sidelines: https://t.co/isLra3NFdk. But if you want to win the fight for the world's biggest AI market, let’s talk.

PS: If you tag an investor whose money we accept, you win an iPhone.