The war of words over Deepinder Goyal's Rs 85,000 health-tracking wearable, Temple, has intensified, with hepatologist Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, popularly known as ‘The Liver Doc', hitting back at the Zomato founder's defence of the device.
Philips has questioned Temple's scientific claims, particularly its ability to measure brain blood flow and ‘entropy', and accused the company of misleading users through unproven claims and questionable research methodology.
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Deepinder Goyal has strongly defended Temple, following criticism from medical professionals.
"As expected, he has written a word salad. This man has provided no real evidence or proof that his device, which he is selling for INR 85,000/- can measure and interpret brain flow from a superficial artery (superficial temporal artery - which is an extracranial artery - meaning a blood vessel placed entirely outside the skull, supplying blood to the side of the face, temple, and scalp regions)," The Liver Doc said in a post on X.
"There is no our science and your science. But there is bad science, fringe science and science fraud and Team Temple, embraced all of these. Temple device is a scam. There is no doubt about it."
The The Liver Doc further asked, "The question is however, how long can this man and his team keep defrauding people under the garb of "we are spending millions for you" or "we are trying our best" or "we are taking the risk" kind of responses? These farts in the windtunnel responses are not what is expected from a company who's website claims "solid science".
So $900 for a mere fitness tracker made in India with different claims?, asked the doctor.
Defending the product in a series of posts on X, Goyal said approximately $30 million had been invested in Temple's development, including $20 million from his personal funds. He argued that such substantial research and development expenditure contradicted allegations that the venture was intended to make quick money.
"We have 14-day, no-questions-asked returns (which even Apple doesn't offer in India). If the product doesn't work, it fails out of the gate and the company dies before recovering a tenth of its R&D," he added.
Goyal further said his decision to step down as CEO of Eternal, the parent company of Zomato and Blinkit, was driven by his commitment to pursuing Temple rather than financial considerations. He added that he would not risk his professional reputation for short-term gains.
Addressing concerns over scientific validation, Goyal cited wearable technology company Whoop, arguing that established products had also entered the market before their validation studies were published.
He said Temple's scientific preprints and independent studies would be made available as research progressed. He also hinted that several advanced features of the device had not yet been publicly disclosed.
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