Meet Navya Tuteja, the 17-year-old who built an AI startup after her school blocked ChatGPT, her platform attracted 1,000 users, 20,000 job listings

Navya Tuteja, a 17-year-old high school student in the US, has built an AI platform to help neurodivergent people find jobs that suit their needs. Her startup, Raaha, has attracted more than 1,000 users and features around 20,000 job listings, according to Fortune.

What makes her story interesting is that Tuteja's school blocks access to ChatGPT, Claude and similar AI tools through its Wi-Fi network. The restriction has shaped how she approaches both her education and her work as a young entrepreneur.

Tuteja is a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Virginia, near Washington, D.C. She launched Raaha about two months before Fortune published its report.

What is Tuteja's AI startup?

Raaha is a free platform that helps neurodivergent job seekers assess whether a job listing matches their needs before applying.

Tuteja felt that many job advertisements focus on an employer's requirements. She said that they provide less information about what working in a particular role might actually feel like.

What was the inpiration behind it?

The idea was partly inspired by her mother, and Tuteja's observations of accessibility challenges faced by others.

She built the platform herself and is keeping it free while trying to attract more users. Her proposed business model involves employers and workforce organisations paying to use the platform or improve their job listings.

Notably, Tuteja's school blocks ChatGPT, Claude, and other similar tools on its Wi-Fi network. She said the restriction meant she used AI much less during school hours. Tuteja feels this encouraged her to think independently while preparing for examinations.

Tuteja is the president of her school's AI club and has drawn a distinction between using AI for productivity and relying on it to do her thinking.

According to Fortune, she wrote Raaha's underlying algorithm herself and used AI mainly for more mechanical tasks, including improving the website's design. She also uses AI to draft emails and organise complicated information when she is short on time.

Raaha is not her only project. Tuteja also developed Legible, a tool that simplifies special education documents for families.

Meanwhile, Tuteja plans to attend college but has said she would consider running Raaha full-time if the startup continues to grow.