Rafomac News, Tech & Trends That MatterA promising Indian smartphone brand is now at the heart of a legal storm that’s reshaping tech reviews across the country. AI Plus claimed to deliver India’s first fully sovereign phone — but what’s really inside these devices has sparked one of India’s biggest tech controversies.
When ‘Made in India’ Phones Aren’t Entirely Indian
India stands as the world’s second-largest smartphone market, with over 700 million users. Yet, most devices come from Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo, which poses both economic and geopolitical challenges given India’s tense border relations with China.
Enter AI Plus in mid-2025, launching their phones with a bold promise: a phone entirely designed, built, and data-secured within India. Their marketing hammered home national pride, with slogans like “Your data stays safe in India” and declarations of being “certified for government use.”
The brand’s CEO, Madhav Sheth — a tech veteran with top roles at Oppo, Realme, and Honor — positioned AI Plus as the champion of Indian innovation, openly criticizing Chinese phones for data privacy risks. His company’s commercials even featured a dramatized narrative showing a Chinese man stealing an Indian’s identity through questionable loans, cementing their anti-China stance.
Uncovering the Reality Beneath the Claims
But early reviews from Indian YouTubers soon cast doubt on AI Plus’s claims. Gyan Therapy’s investigation revealed that AI Plus’s custom Next Quantum OS appeared suspiciously similar to Realme’s software, the very company Madhav once led.
More troubling were three pre-installed apps—Clean Assistant, Phone Clone, and Mobile Butler—that couldn’t be uninstalled and appeared to originate from a Chinese company named Sprocomm Technologies. Detailed analysis showed these apps were not custom Indian creations but repackaged Chinese software masquerading under new names.
This revelation sparked a legal firestorm. AI Plus issued court orders forbidding critics from publishing negative content, leading to geo-blocking of videos in India and unprecedented silence imposed on many tech reviewers.
The Shadow of ODMs: How Much Is AI Plus Truly Indian?
Digging deeper, Sprocomm emerged as a Chinese ODM (Original Design Manufacturer), specializing in low-cost products often built with second-hand components to maximize affordability. Multiple phones from various brands bore uncanny resemblances to Sprocomm’s designs, raising the question: are AI Plus phones genuinely their own creations, or just off-the-shelf Chinese models rebranded?
Industry insiders explained these ODMs come in tiers—from high-end design firms collaborating with major brands like Oppo and Samsung, to lower-tier manufacturers like Sprocomm focusing on cutting costs, sometimes at the expense of quality and originality.
Wave Two and the Legal Clampdown
When AI Plus released their second lineup, scrutiny intensified. Tech Wiser’s video dissected persistent bloatware hidden within phones, contradicting Madhav’s boasts of a bloat-free user experience. Even YouTube’s TechBar demonstrated the AI Plus Nova Flip phone was essentially a rebranded Chinese ZTE Nubia Flip 2, with identical hardware, software signatures, and ZTE branding still visible inside.
Further investigations uncovered that many supposed Indian apps and wearables were co-developed with Chinese firms, including AI Power, whose Shenzhen base and shared logos overlay uncomfortably with AI Plus’s patriotic narrative.
Following these exposés, the Delhi High Court issued ex parte injunctions against the YouTubers, halting all negative coverage without allowing the defendants to present their side. This legal maneuver, which named an unidentified “John Doe” to block future critics, stirred controversy over fairness and free speech.
What Madhav Sheth Has to Say
In exclusive conversations, Madhav admitted mistakes but maintained the core of his claims about Indian engineering and data security. He insisted Chinese phones posed an economic, not consumer, risk and expressed regret over the legal action’s severity, blaming intermediaries for misunderstandings.
However, when presented with overwhelming evidence of Chinese apps on Indian-sold phones, Madhav either denied knowledge or shifted responsibility, refusing to acknowledge inconsistencies in software versions and updates. His claims of patents and co-development with Chinese partners raised more questions than answers.
Why This Matters Beyond Tech
This dispute isn’t just a tech squabble—it touches on nationalism, data privacy, and the right to critique in India’s booming smartphone market. The aggressive legal tactics against reviewers chill free expression and create a chilling precedent.
The AI Plus saga reveals how complex global supply chains blur the lines between national pride and marketing fiction. It also shows how eager consumers and creators alike must remain vigilant when patriotism intersects with business.
Whether AI Plus will weather this storm or become a cautionary tale remains to be seen, but the biggest winner right now might just be the conversation around transparency in tech.
For those intrigued by the evidence behind the claims—especially the detailed app investigations and device comparisons—the footage provides a compelling visual walk-through of the controversy’s layers.
