Eternal, the parent company of Zomato and Blinkit, has announced Dark, an artificial intelligence assistant designed to keep user conversations private even from its own makers. Founder Deepinder Goyal said the product uses end-to-end encryption, and Eternal would not be able to access user chats even if forced to do so. The announcement positions Dark as a privacy-first alternative for people who want to speak freely with an AI bot.
A Privacy-First Design
Dark runs on fine-tuned open-weight models hosted on Eternal's own infrastructure, according to the company. Chat context persists across sessions through an encrypted memory layer that users control. The architecture is designed to keep conversations private even from Eternal itself. This means no one at the company can read user chats, regardless of external pressure.
Encrypted Memory and User Control
Everything from questions and research to ideas and emotions stays inside a user's encrypted sandbox, Goyal said. Users retain control over the encrypted memory layer that maintains context across conversations. This approach removes the worry that someone, someday, can read what a user tells an AI bot. That privacy promise is central to the product's design.
The Rationale Behind Dark
Goyal explained in a letter to shareholders that the idea behind Dark was to give people a private outlet for their darker or more sensitive thoughts. He wrote that all of us have a dark side, and it needs an outlet where it does not have to hide. The goal is to let users speak freely without the fear of future exposure.
Target Audience and Model Behavior
Dark is built for founders, researchers, scientists, enterprises, and governments who want to keep their thoughts private, according to Goyal. He said privacy is essential for competitiveness in these high-stakes environments. The models are trained not to please users, but to tell them what the system considers to be the truth.
Internal Testing
Eternal has used Dark internally for a few months, and Goyal now finds himself revealing more and asking questions he would not ask anywhere else. He said he no longer has to look over his shoulder while using the assistant. This internal testing suggests the company has confidence in the product's privacy and performance.
Launch Plans
Dark will launch globally, hopefully within 2026, though Eternal has not announced pricing or a specific launch date. The company described Dark as a product for power users who need privacy for competitiveness. A wider release would test whether enterprises and governments are ready to trust encrypted AI memory at scale.
Quarterly Financial Performance
For the second quarter of FY27, Eternal reported a 92.3% on-year jump in net profit to ₹1.25 billion. Revenue from operations rose 77.6% to ₹241.38 billion. These results reflect the company's financial strength as it invests in new artificial intelligence offerings. The earnings were reported on Wednesday alongside the Dark announcement.
Dark represents a shift toward more private AI interactions, where provider access is technically out of reach rather than merely restricted by policy. By combining encrypted memory with models that prioritize candor, Eternal is targeting users who cannot afford to compromise sensitive thinking. If the 2026 launch proceeds as planned, Dark could influence how enterprises and governments evaluate AI assistants.