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Truecaller plans to introduce AI-generated summaries for smart SMS, enhancing user experience and privacy. India remains the largest market, contributing 74% of global sales.
Key Points
- Truecaller to implement AI-generated summaries for smart SMS, providing instant message overviews.
- India contributes 74% of Truecaller’s total global sales, with 272.6 million users in the country.
- Truecaller uses large language models (LLMs) to enhance message summarization and accuracy.
- AI-enabled summaries will be processed offline and on-device to ensure privacy.
- Truecaller’s business model includes a mix of consumer app monetization through ads and B2B services.
Truecaller, the Sweden-based spam and call-blocking application, is set to revolutionize its smart SMS feature by implementing AI-generated summaries. This innovative approach will allow users to receive quick, on-device synopses of their messages, enhancing convenience and efficiency. As Rishit Jhunjhunwala, Managing Director and Chief Product Officer of Truecaller, explained in an interview with ETTelecom, this feature will provide concise overviews of SMS content almost instantly. “For instance, for a transactional SMS, one won’t need to open the whole message,” he said.
The key difference with this new implementation is the use of large language models (LLMs) to summarize messages beyond the current categories such as OTPs and transactions. Truecaller is investing heavily in expanding the use of LLMs to improve the messaging experience, aiming to identify and summarize a broader range of important messages more accurately. “Currently, over 260 million texts are identified and summarized daily, a year-on-year growth of 44% with LLMs,” Jhunjhunwala noted. The company plans to extend this capability to more use cases, markets, and languages while continuously seeking user feedback to refine the models.
India remains Truecaller’s largest market, contributing about 74% of the company’s total global sales. Of Truecaller’s total monthly active user base of 383.4 million as of March-end, 272.6 million users are in India. Truecaller emphasizes privacy, ensuring that the AI-enabled summaries are processed offline and on-device. The company recently launched an AI assistant for call recording, which not only provides a transcript but also an AI-generated summary of the entire conversation.
Regarding monetization, Jhunjhunwala explained that Truecaller’s business is divided into two parts: consumer and B2B. Approximately 94% of users access the app for free and are monetized through advertisements, while the remaining users subscribe to premium services. On the B2B side, Truecaller for Business, which performs KYC of official enterprise numbers, has become the fastest-growing revenue stream, with a 40% year-on-year growth last year. “Advertisement revenues are very seasonal in nature, but our B2B and premium services offer far more stable revenue streams,” he added.
Truecaller has also been applying AI in various operational aspects and product features. “We use AI for design, idea generation, and operational efficiency. In our core product, AI helps us detect scammers faster than usual,” Jhunjhunwala explained.
Earlier this year, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended introducing a caller name identification feature, allowing mobile users to see the names of anonymous callers. When asked about the potential impact of this Caller Name Presentation (CNAP) feature on Truecaller, Jhunjhunwala stated that their models are different. “CNAP will show KYC data from customer acquisition firms, while Truecaller relies on users creating profiles and crowd-sourced data. It will not significantly impact Truecaller, and we will co-exist just as we do in other countries.”
Truecaller’s commitment to improving mobile user communication is evident as it continues to expand its services beyond just caller ID. The introduction of AI-generated summaries for smart SMS is a testament to its ongoing innovation and dedication to enhancing user experience.
