Overview

• Builder.ai filed for bankruptcy across five jurisdictions after lender Viola Credit seized $37 million in May 2025 over inflated revenue forecasts.
• The London-based startup, valued at $1.5 billion and backed by Microsoft and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, relied on about 700 Indian engineers to manually code apps behind its AI claims.
• An independent audit revealed actual 2024 revenue of $50 million, far below the $220 million in sales pledged by founder Sachin Dev Duggal to creditors.
• The company owes roughly $85 million to Amazon and $30 million to Microsoft in cloud computing fees, and around 1,000 employees have lost their jobs.
• US prosecutors in New York and UK regulators are investigating Builder.ai’s financial practices as concerns about AI washing grow.