On 7th January, YouTuber Anubhav Gupta said in a social media post on X that he received a threat call asking him to remove his recent expose video targeting Dhruv Rathee and his AI based application, AI Fiesta. In his video, which was published on 22nd December, Gupta alleged that Rathee is involved in large scale data privacy violations, misleading marketing claims, and questionable business practices linked to the app. OpIndia spoke to Anubhav in detail about the threat call.
This was the number. pic.twitter.com/JGI3FB9OcB
— Anubhav Gupta (@anubhavgupta_ji) January 7, 2026
According to Gupta, the call came after the video began circulating widely on social media. He stated that the caller demanded that the video be taken down. Gupta cited the phone number from which he received the call, carrying a German country code, +49. While sharing the number on X, he asserted that the intent of the call was to intimidate him into removing the content, which he said is entirely based on publicly available policies and documents linked to the app.
In the post, he wrote, “Got a Threat Call to take down my video. Where, I explained how Dhruv Rathee is stealing your Data. I WONT TAKE IT DOWN GERMAN SHEPHERD.”
The statement was widely shared by his followers, with over 450 reposts and 2,000+ likes on X alone.
Speaking to OpIndia, Anubhav Gupta described the threat call in detail. He said the caller spoke in a Haryanvi accent and began the conversation by asking whether he wanted to “grow on YouTube”. When Gupta asked the caller to identify himself, the caller refused and instead issued threats.
Gupta said the caller warned that he had “people” who could physically assault him, record the act, and force him to upload the video on his own YouTube channel. According to Gupta, the caller also implied that since he already had Gupta’s phone number, obtaining his home address would not be difficult.
Gupta said the caller then referred specifically to his expose video, mentioning that it had received around 25,000 to 26,000 views. He alleged that the caller demanded the video be deleted immediately, warning that if it went viral, the consequences would escalate. Gupta said the call ended abruptly after the threat was delivered. He clarified that while the words he shared publicly were not a verbatim transcript, they accurately reflected the meaning of what was said, as he understands Haryanvi but does not speak it fluently.
When OpIndia asked Gupta whether the caller identified himself or indicated any affiliation, Gupta said the caller referred to Dhruv Rathee as “hamare Rathee bhai”, which he interpreted as a signal of alignment, though no formal identity was disclosed.
Gupta told OpIndia that while he does not have an audio recording of the call, he has preserved a screenshot of the call log showing the international number from which the call was received. He said he is willing to share this material to establish the timing and source of the call.
On the question of legal action, Gupta remarked that police action should ideally be taken against individuals who attempt to silence critics through intimidation. However, he said that after consulting a lawyer, he was advised that little could be done at this stage since the call originated from an international number.
Asked about his message to other creators and journalists who face similar pressure, Gupta said such threats should not be feared. He described those making such calls as online ‘gundas’ who rely on intimidation and are incapable of doing anything in real life.
Responding to a question on whether he had any message for Dhruv Rathee, Gupta said Rathee should clearly explain for what purpose AI Fiesta is storing public data, especially in light of the privacy concerns raised in the expose video.
What Anubhav Gupta has exposed about AI Fiesta
In his 22nd December video, Gupta said that AI Fiesta stores user prompts as well as AI generated responses. He stated that this practice could potentially include deeply personal, political, and sensitive information entered by the users. Notably, it is a general practice for users not to read the privacy policy, terms and conditions, and other documentation of the websites and apps they use. They usually agree to them and move on without realising the consequences.
Gupta said that this data retention is explicitly mentioned in the privacy policy statement of the app and raises serious questions about user safety and informed consent. OpIndia checked and confirmed that the AI Fiesta privacy policy says exactly what Gupta has alleged in his video.
Gupta further stated that the app collects IP addresses and broadly worded “device information”, a term he argues is deliberately vague and capable of enabling extensive behavioural and geographical tracking of users. He pointed out that such data, if compromised, could expose users to phishing, profiling, or targeted manipulation.
Allegations of misleading hype and fake credibility
Another major allegation raised by Gupta in the video concerns AI Fiesta’s marketing claims. Gupta said that the app promoted a “3 million ARR in 36 hours” figure to manufacture hype and create the impression of massive commercial success. He argued that the claim is misleading and designed to attract paying users in a market where several AI tools are already available free of cost.
He also stated that AI Fiesta relied on bot generated or purchased reviews on the Google Play Store. He pointed to repeated phrases, identical sentence structures, and common keywords across multiple 5-star reviews as indicators of inauthentic feedback. He said such feedback is bought to mislead potential customers.
OpIndia crosschecked the claims laid by Gupta and found them to be true, as suggested in the screenshots added here. Both screenshot sets have three 5-star reviews with similar language used.
Privacy advocate versus data collector
At the centre of the expose was what Gupta described as the hypocrisy of Dhruv Rathee. Gupta pointed out that Rathee has built a public persona around warning people about data misuse, surveillance, and privacy violations. However, his app AI Fiesta’s own policies allow storage of user data, collection of IP addresses, and broad device level information.
He further alleged that the app’s terms include disclaimers stating that no system is fully secure, which he argues effectively shields the company from responsibility in the case of a data breach.
Questions over accountability and jurisdiction
Gupta also raised concerns about the app’s corporate structure. He stated that AI Fiesta is registered in Delaware in the United States and argued that branding it as “the country’s biggest AI platform” is misleading when its registration, data infrastructure, and leadership are not based in India.
This is not the first time Dhruv Rathee has been accused of intimidating someone for exposing him. In September 2023, YouTuber Karolina Goswami and her husband had accused Rathee’s “supporters” of attacking them in Europe for fact-checking him.
Anubhav Gupta responded to our questions and this report has been updated accordingly.
