So here we are again.
Another startup, another fancy pitch about AI doing all the work — only for the internet to discover that it wasn’t AI after all, but, well… real people. In India.
This time it’s Builder.ai, a no-code platform that claimed to help you build apps in minutes using artificial intelligence. The catch? Much of the “AI” seems to have been powered by teams of human developers in India doing the actual coding. After over 8 years in operations and crossing $1.5 Billion valuation, the startup has suddenly collapsed with its over $445 Million in investment wiped out and the company going bankrupt in 2025.
Naturally, social media had a blast. Jokes flew fast. People started redefining AI as “All Indians” or “Actually Indians.” Someone even suggested “Alternate Illusion.” Classic internet gold.
AI Washing: Same Trick, New Wrapping
If this feels familiar, it’s because it is.
Remember when Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology — supposedly a marvel of real-time computer vision — was revealed to involve hundreds of people in India watching camera footage and confirming purchases manually?
Or how early chatbots from some “AI-first” customer support startups turned out to be outsourced agents using response templates?
Turns out, a lot of what’s marketed as “AI” is really humans doing intelligent things, just quietly and off-screen.
The Hype is the Product
You can’t really blame startups. Investors today are obsessed with anything that smells like AI. Add a chatbot to your landing page, call it AI-powered, and suddenly your valuation triples.
The thing is, the pressure to look automated is pushing companies to hide the very people making their products work. Ironically, we’re now pretending people aren’t involved — even when they’re doing the hard work.
You have to wonder: if a developer in Bengaluru is writing perfect code while wearing the label of “AI output,” how far are we from branding humans as backend services?
Between Comedy and Concern
The jokes were funny. The situation? Not so much.
Think about it — real people are:
- Working long hours under tight deadlines.
- Expected to deliver like machines.
- Not always being compensated or credited fairly.
These “invisible hands” are building software, handling clients, fixing bugs — all while the front-facing product tells the world it’s 100% AI-driven.
If that’s not a labor law loophole waiting to be challenged, what is?
India’s Quiet Code Army
Let’s pause the criticism and take a moment to recognize the real stars of this story — the Indian developers.
For decades, India’s tech talent has been the spine of the global software economy. From Fortune 500 companies to scrappy Silicon Valley startups, they’ve been the force behind the code.
They don’t get cover stories. They don’t get venture capital. But they do get the job done.
In fact, AI itself wouldn’t be where it is without Indian coders who train the data, manage the pipelines, and build the infrastructure.
So when people laugh about “Actually Indians,” they’re accidentally highlighting the truth: AI runs on Indian horsepower.
Is AI a Lie?
Well, no. Not entirely.
Builder.ai does use AI — to manage workflows, automate some testing, and accelerate prototyping. The problem isn’t with using humans. It’s with pretending they don’t exist.
And here’s the thing: most AI startups today are hybrid. They blend automation with skilled labor. That’s not cheating. That’s reality. Especially while we wait for AI to move beyond pattern-matching and truly understand context.
AI is a tool. A smart one, yes — but still a tool. It works best when used alongside human creativity and decision-making, not as a replacement for it.
This story isn’t just about Builder.ai. It’s about the myth of machine magic that tech has been selling us for years.
The Bottom Line
It’s okay to use people. It’s okay to use AI. What’s not okay is disguising one as the other to cash in on hype.
If the future of work is going to be fair, we need to:
- Acknowledge hybrid models.
- Credit the humans behind the code.
- Rethink what “intelligence” really means — artificial or not.
And maybe, just maybe, next time your app says “built by AI,” it’ll also include a small thank-you note to Ramesh, Sneha, or Rahul.
Until then, here’s to the Indian coders — quietly building the future, one “AI-powered” app at a time.
