PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Manu Chopra

Manu Chopra is a Karya co-founder whose research links AI language data and crowdsourced work. After studying computer science with an AI focus at Stanford, he returned to India and co-founded Karya as an idea at Microsoft Research in 2017. His papers examined crowdsourced work and speech data for low-resource languages in 2019 and 2020. Karya became independent in 2021 and focused on high-quality language datasets and rural income; TIME included him in its TIME100 AI list in 2023. As of October 2026, he is Karya's co-founder and CEO.

Now at
Karya

Timeline

  1. 2017

    Starting Karya at Microsoft

    He grows up in Delhi, studies computer science with an AI focus at Stanford, and returns to India. With Vivek Seshadri, he co-founds Karya as an idea at Microsoft Research in 2017.

  2. 2019

    Exploring crowdsourced work

    He coauthors “Exploring Crowdsourced Work in Low-Resource Settings,” published at the Human Factors in Computing Systems conference in May 2019.

  3. 2020

    Crowdsourcing speech data

    He coauthors “Crowdsourcing Speech Data for Low-Resource Languages from Low-Income Workers,” published at the Language Resources and Evaluation Conference in May 2020.

  4. 2021

    Karya becomes independent

    Karya spins out of Microsoft Research as an independent organization in 2021. It develops high-quality language datasets and works to lift rural Indians out of poverty through education and income.

  5. 2023

    A TIME100 AI selection

    TIME includes him in its 2023 TIME100 AI list as Karya's CEO.

  6. As of October 2026

    Leading Karya

    As of October 2026, he is Karya's co-founder and CEO, using AI to create earning and learning opportunities for low-income communities across the Global South.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Manu Chopra yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Conversation with Manu Chopra of Karya rippleworks.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. Village by village, creating the building blocks for AI tools with work that also educates news.microsoft.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. Digital Labor: Project Karya - Microsoft Research: Publications microsoft.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. TIME100 AI list: Indians make their mark on the global AI landscape moneycontrol.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. Manu Chopra — Global Technology Summit 2026 globaltechnologysummit.com. Checked 14 October 2026.