Eternal's Dark.ai: Deepinder Goyal plans encrypted AI assistant for 2026
By Anika SharmaAI & Innovations Editor, Peepals Tech
Representative image: pcdazero / Pixabay
Zomato and Blinkit parent Eternal has unveiled Dark.ai, a privacy-focused AI assistant with end-to-end encryption that it hopes to launch globally within 2026, CEO Deepinder Goyal said on 21 October.
What Happened
Eternal, the company behind Zomato and Blinkit, has revealed that it is building Dark.ai, an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant designed around privacy. Founder and chief executive Deepinder Goyal disclosed the project in the company's letter to shareholders for the July to September 2026 quarter, released on 21 October 2026. Dark.ai runs fine-tuned open-weight AI models on Eternal's own servers, encrypts conversations end to end, and gives users control over an encrypted memory, according to the company. Goyal said it has been used internally for a few months and that Eternal hopes to launch it globally within 2026. No launch date or price has been announced.
Key Facts
- Product: Dark.ai, a privacy-focused AI chat assistant built inside Eternal.
- Disclosed: in Eternal's Q2 FY27 shareholders' letter, released on 21 October 2026.
- Technology, as described by the company: fine-tuned open-weight models (AI models whose internal settings are published and can be run by anyone) hosted on Eternal's own infrastructure; end-to-end encryption; a user-controlled, encrypted memory layer.
- Claim: Goyal says the company will not be able to read users' conversations, even if compelled to. This has not been independently verified.
- Target users: founders, researchers, businesses and governments that handle sensitive information.
- Timing: global launch "hopefully within 2026", in Goyal's words. Pricing and availability have not been announced.
- Eternal's chief financial officer, Akshant Goyal, described the project on the earnings call as a high-risk bet that will either become a global business or be shut down.
Why It Matters
Most popular AI assistants today run on servers owned by the company that makes them, and conversations are generally visible to that company in some form, whether for safety checks, improving models or responding to legal demands. For people and organisations that type confidential plans, legal matters or health details into a chatbot, that is a real concern. Dark.ai's pitch is that only the user can read what is said.
End-to-end encryption means data is scrambled on the user's device and can be unscrambled only by the intended recipient, so the service provider in the middle cannot read it. Messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Signal use it for chats between people. Applying it to an AI assistant is harder, because the AI model itself has to process the text in order to answer. How Eternal handles that step, and whether independent security experts can confirm its claims, will decide whether the privacy promise holds. The company has not said whether it will commission an independent audit.
The project is also notable for who is building it. Eternal is best known for food delivery and quick commerce, not AI research. Building a consumer AI product on open-weight models, rather than training its own large model from scratch, keeps costs lower and lets the company focus on the privacy layer. It is also one of the more ambitious attempts by an Indian consumer internet company to build an AI product for a global market.
For India's AI ecosystem, an Indian company competing on privacy in a market led by US firms would be a meaningful test, especially as India's Digital Personal Data Protection rules put more focus on how companies handle personal information.
| Feature | What Eternal says |
|---|---|
| Models | fine-tuned open-weight models on Eternal's own servers |
| Encryption | end to end, including an encrypted memory the user controls |
| Who can read chats | only the user, according to the company |
| Launch | global, hopefully within 2026 |
| Price | not announced |
Impact
Short-term: Nothing changes for users yet, since Dark.ai is not publicly available. Interest will focus on technical details of the encryption and any early-access programme.
Long-term: If Dark.ai works as described and passes independent scrutiny, it could push larger AI providers to offer stronger privacy options. If it struggles, Eternal's own finance chief has said the company is prepared to close it.
Who is affected: Businesses, researchers and governments that handle sensitive data, privacy-conscious AI users, Eternal's shareholders, and rival AI assistant providers.
Key Takeaway
Eternal is building Dark.ai, an end-to-end encrypted AI assistant on open-weight models, which it hopes to launch globally within 2026, though its privacy claims are still untested.
Questions and Answers
What is Dark.ai?
Dark.ai is a privacy-focused AI assistant being built by Eternal, the parent of Zomato and Blinkit. The company says conversations are end-to-end encrypted and that it cannot read them.
When will Dark.ai launch?
Deepinder Goyal said Eternal hopes to launch it globally within 2026. No date, price or list of countries has been announced.
How is Dark.ai different from other AI chatbots?
According to Eternal, it runs fine-tuned open-weight models on Eternal's own servers, encrypts chats end to end and lets users control an encrypted memory, so that only the user can read conversations. These claims have not yet been independently verified.
Who is Dark.ai meant for?
Eternal says it is aimed at founders, researchers, businesses and governments that need to keep sensitive work private.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
By Anika Sharma, AI & Innovations EditorCovers AI & Innovation and more for Peepals Tech. All stories by Anika Sharma
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