India, March 25 -- Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath's announcement of a Rs.25,000 crore memorandum of understanding (MoU) with artificial intelligence (AI) startup Puch AI has drawn sharp online criticism over the company's credentials, prompting clarifications from both sides and a defined due diligence process from the state's investment arm.

"Puch AI had given a proposal to us on Friday, and we signed a non-binding MoU with them on Monday. We have asked them to submit due diligence documents and they have been given three days to do so. If they pass this due diligence process, we will go ahead with them; otherwise, we will cancel the MoU," Invest UP CEO Vijay Kiran Anand told HT.

Describing the company as a bootstrapped s...