Invest in AI R&D instead of giving dividends, Wingify founder Paras Chopra

Wingify founder Paras Chopra on Thursday questioned large companies in India for giving dividends instead of reinvesting in foundation-level artificial intelligence research.

“Anthropic is projecting trillions of dollars of revenue in the next two years. Where is that revenue going to come from,” he asked, adding that they are thinking at a level that India probably has not internalised yet.

The only real counter to that scenario is deeper investment in fundamental R&D, according to Chopra. “I have no idea why large companies in India give dividends instead of doing the kind of research that used to happen,” he said. Founders who have had successful exits, he added, should also reinvest into deeper scientific work. “That level zero is what’s needed.”


Chopra made the comments at ET AI Awards 2025 during a panel discussion with Meraki Labs founder Peeyush Ranjan on ‘Build, Borrow, or Burn: The Truth About Models’, moderated by ET’s Samidha Sharma.

Chopra said there is a need for long-term research and called for a shift in mindset among companies, founders and corporate leaders to rethink how they approach AI innovation.

Chopra founded Lossfunk, a lab based out of Bengaluru supporting foundational research on AI, after exiting software firm Wingify in January 2025. A former Flipkart CTO and Google veteran, he also launched Fermi.ai, a global AI tutor-led edtech, in January this year.

For Ranjan, the opportunity lies in leapfrogging rather than competing head-on. “You don’t become great on day one. You go down the learning curve by building things deeply relevant to you,” he said.

“AI is a road-roller flattening advantages. The question is: who can solve messy problems most creatively and move the fastest,” he said, suggesting that India should build globally competitive AI products in sectors such as education and healthcare, where it has scale and domain strength.

Despite the challenges, Chopra remains optimistic about India’s human capital. “We just need someone to provide them a playground and build the right culture.”