There’s a lot AI can do, but also a lot more that it can’t. For instance, it can not predict or stop blackmailing and extortion, which, is still in the hands of the law. Case in point is a recent incident faced by Varun Vummadi, an Indian-origin co-founder and CEO of Giga, an AI startup. The San Francisco-based company is allegedly being targeted by an extortion scheme. Vummadi took to X to share the details of the incident, explaining that a small group of individuals have obtained confidential company information illegally and is using it to extort $3 million in cryptocurrency. He also shared a screenshot of the email, which threatened to release manipulated data and false allegations unless the demand was met. “They have already posted information on Twitter that is false and defamatory, and now they are threatening to take snippets of this data, manipulate it out of context, and release it to the public with wildly false and defamatory allegations unless we wire $3M to an anonymous crypto account,” wrote Vummadi in the X post.
Netizens question Vummadi
Many under the post questioned the presence of information that the company could be blackmailed with. “Why would there be data that you guys could be extorted by?” wrote one X user. “Why would you draw more undue attention to yourself bro, scrutiny has not served yall well” added another.
Previous claims of wrongdoings
Previously, former employees of the company, including a former staffer named Jared Steele have publicly accused the AI startup of various unethical practices like falsifying revenue numbers, bribing Fortune 500 companies and mistreating employees. Steele who was hired to lead demand generation, claimed that the work environment was “most toxic” he had experienced. He cited a lack of work-life balance, mandatory 12-hour shifts and promised compensations that did not materialise, leading him to quit within a day. However, Vummadi denied any allegations of wrongdoing, dubbing the claims as “wildly false and defamatory.” According to him, the data is being manipulated out of context to harm the company following its successful $61 million Series A funding round in November 2025. Varun Vummadi and Esha Manideep, two IIT Kharagpur alumni founded Giga in 2023. The company specialises in building voice-based AI agents for businesses. Both founders turned down beneficial offers to form a startup. While Manideep turned down a $150,000 job, Vummadi chose the company over his Stanford PhD and a $525,000 quant trader role.
