Byju’s launches AI models amid financial woes; eyes cost efficiency, better outcomes

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Byju's, the world's most-valued edtech startup, introduced AI-based learning models to enhance user outcomes and expand its offerings, aiming to attract students and optimise expenses, amidst conflicts with lenders as it awaits much-needed funding.

The company launched three AI models called Badri, MathGPT and TeacherGPT, bundled under Byju’s WIZ, and claimed that it had a 90 percent accuracy rate. While Badri (Byju’s Attentive DateVec Rasch Implementation)  is a predictive AI knowledge-tracing model, MathGPT leverages machine-learning algorithms to solve complex math challenges. TeacherGPT, meanwhile, offers personalised guidance to students as well as grade student responses.

The three models are already a part of Byju’s curriculum for K-12 (kindergarten to class 12) at Byju’s Tuition Centers, Dev Roy, chief learning officer, Byju’s told Moneycontrol in a virtual interaction on June 6.

The company further plans to leverage AI and other technology to its other verticals like test preparation, and upskilling segment. According to Roy, AI will benefit the test preparation vertical the most.

The company did not reveal the investment it made, but Divya Gokulnath, co-founder, Byju’s said that a large part of the models was built on ChatGPT and so the overall costs, including the license cost were minimal. However, the company's tech team invested a lot of time in building them.

Byju’s will also leverage these platforms to improve the teaching abilities of its tutors as the company would conduct audits of content using AI, which will lead to more efficiency, and thus Byju’s would be able to save costs on that front, Gokulnath said.

“More efficiency always drives reduced costs. You can do audits (by leveraging the technology), you can see class participation etc. I can now literally audit (content) 100 percent, which I couldn’t before,” said Gokulnath.

“Now tech will help me improve my experience so much, increase efficiency so much, that costs will automatically come down,” she added. She also said, “everything we do is to attract new students to the platform services. Everything we do is to enhance the learning experience for students.”

The announcement of the launch of the AI models comes a day after Byju’s filed a case in the New York Supreme Court against its lenders, branding them as predatory, as it skipped paying $40 million in interest on a loan it had raised in November 2021. The company has been in a tussle with its lenders for almost six months now, with the lenders scrapping talks to renegotiate the debt last week, almost five months after the talks had begun.

Besides being in a tiff with lenders, Byju’s has been trying to close a large funding round, a much-needed fund infusion that will help the company to tide over an immediate liquidity crisis. However, the company maintains that it is well-capitalised.

Byju’s claimed to have closed a $250 million funding round from Davidson Kempner in structured instruments and the company is in talks with Middle East-based sovereign funds to raise $700 million.

Founded over a decade back by former teacher Byju Raveendran, Byju’s has raised over $5 billion, most of which was raised in the past five years. However, the company has come under fire over the last 15 months for accounting irregularities, alleged mis-selling of courses, and mass lay-offs. In April, the company’s offices were also searched by Enforcement Directorate (ED), India’s financial probe agency, under provisions of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

In September last year, it filed its FY21 (2020-21) results after a long delay of 18 months. The results showed that the company’s operating revenue dropped marginally from the previous year, but it took everyone by surprise as FY21 was the first year of Covid that gave all edtech companies globally a shot in the arm as demand for online learning surged. Byju’s losses also swelled to over Rs 4,500 crore in FY21.

The company is yet to file its FY22 results, a key demand by lenders, who initiated acceleration of the Term Loan B after Byju’s failed to submit the results.