Introducing Cars24 Labs: Our $20 million bet on AI

We are committing $20 million to AI and launching Labs, our build, partner, and investment arm. This is the biggest bet we've made as a company and I want to explain exactly why we're making it.

We are living through the most significant technology shift in human history. I say that without exaggeration. AI is bigger than mobile. Bigger than the internet. The companies that get this right in the next two to three years won't just outperform. They will make everyone else irrelevant.

I am paranoid because I can see how big this is, and how much further we still have to go.

Most companies know this too. But still hesitate, and I understand why. The bills are real. 95% of AI pilots fail before production. 42% of companies abandoned most AI projects in 2025 alone.

Bezos had a principle he called regret minimization. At 80, you won't regret the bets you made and lost. You'll regret the ones you never made. So the question for us was never whether $20 million is a lot to spend. The question was: in ten years, looking back, what will you regret more, making this bet, or sitting it out?

That's not a hard question for me or anyone at Cars24 right now.

So what actually is Cars24 Labs?

The world's most important technology is being built by a few thousand people in a small corner of America. We think that needs to change. Labs is our attempt to make India a place where frontier AI gets built, not just consumed.

We bring the infrastructure, the compute, the capital, and eleven years of operational depth in some of the most complex markets in the world.

We partner with the companies building frontier AI. OpenAI, ElevenLabs, and AWS are already in. It means early access, shared infrastructure, and direct access to the teams pushing what comes next.

We build. Proprietary AI products across our stack, and open-source models we put back into the world for anyone to use.

We invest and incubate. Early-stage AI startups get capital, operational expertise, and the infrastructure of a company scaled from zero to billions. This isn't a cheque and a handshake. It is a real operating environment.

Labs sits at the intersection of all three, with Jayesh Gupta at the helm of the Lab's scientific research and innovation efforts.

Last week we ran Token'26, our first AI hackathon. Over 1,000 people applied. We took 100. They had 72 hours. People with no degrees, no experience, and unburdened by process were outbuilding seasoned professionals. It confirmed what we already believed. Labs is how we go further.

Token was the external proof. Internally, we have been going much deeper. I personally spend 8 to 10 hours every day working with AI, rebuilding how I think and how I work. So does our team. We are not experimenting anymore. We are operating.

However, you can't build the future inside a pyramid. Flatland is our answer, where AI does the coordinating, so people can do the building. We have only one role at Cars24: Builder. Accountable for outcomes, nothing in the way. With AI, one Builder can do what used to take an entire team. 

The only way to become an AI-native company is to organise as one.

If we ride this right, we can do ten years of work in one. I believe that in my bones.

We are looking for three kinds of people.

If you want to build: come work on next-gen open-source LLMs with us. Models coming soon on Hugging Face.

If you are founding something: we run an incubator for early-stage AI startups. Capital, operational expertise, and infrastructure that will give you real leverage. Apply at labs@cars24.com.

If you want to partner: we work with companies and researchers pushing the frontier. Early access, shared infrastructure, direct lines to the teams building what comes next.

If you are 18, 20, 22 or even younger, AI-native, and looking for a place to experiment, I want you with us. Not someday. Now. The people who stood out at Token weren't the ones with the best credentials. They were the ones who shipped. 

Write to us at labs@cars24.com if you want to be a part of the next big thing. 

Vikram Chopra, Builder, Cars24