Deepinder Goyal Temple row: doctors question Rs 85,000 wearable, founder says it makes no medical claims

The Deepinder Goyal Temple row widened in India on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, as doctors publicly questioned whether the Rs 85,000 head-worn wearable can measure what it claims, Business Standard reported. Deepinder Goyal, the founder of Eternal, has defended the device, saying Temple is a fitness and AI product, not a medical one. 1

What happened

Temple opened for pre-orders in India on 1 November at Rs 85,000, with deliveries expected in about three months, Business Standard reported. The device sits on the side of the forehead and offers two metrics: BrainFlow, which tracks relative changes in circulation, and Entropy, a company score of 1 to 250 meant to show how hard the body is working, according to an IANS report carried by ap7am. 2

Criticism followed on social media. Sudhir Kumar, a senior neurologist at Apollo Hospitals in Hyderabad, said on X that Temple picks up signals from an artery that supplies the scalp, not the brain, and warned users not to treat reassuring readings as proof that their brain arteries are healthy, Business Standard reported. Heart specialist Dr Zubin Sharma, who reviewed early versions of two company research papers, questioned whether the light-based sensors can separate blood flow inside the brain from scalp circulation, the same report said.

Clinical scientists have also called on regulators to scrutinise the product and alleged that the science behind it was misrepresented, IANS reported. Those are allegations; no regulator has announced any action in these reports.

Goyal responded on X. “Temple is strictly a fitness + AI device, and we’ve made no medical claims,” he wrote, according to Business Standard. He added, as quoted by IANS: “Wherever we need regulatory clearances, we will have them before we make any claim needing them.”

Key numbers

• Price: Rs 85,000, with pre-orders from 1 November (Business Standard).
• India share: Goyal expects no more than 1% of sales in India (Business Standard).
• Funding: Goyal led a $54 million funding round for the startup (IANS via ap7am).
• Returns: a 14 day, no questions asked return policy, Goyal said (Business Standard).

Who is Deepinder Goyal and why Temple matters

Goyal built Zomato, now Eternal, into one of India’s best known listed consumer internet companies, and Temple is his most visible new bet outside food delivery. The row is a test of whether a founder from consumer technology can carry his brand into health and wellness hardware, where scientific claims draw closer checks. Goyal is one of the self-made founders behind India’s new tech wealth, alongside the family groups that top the Forbes India Rich List 2026.

What people said

“Temple is not made for India. It’s made for the world,” Goyal wrote on X, according to NewsBytes. “Please do not support us because we are an Indian start-up. We want to compete globally,” he added. 3

Goyal also said the company is preparing preprints of its studies and offered devices to qualified researchers for independent testing, Business Standard reported. He said BrainFlow is not the main point of the product and that Entropy is the focus.

What happens next

Temple’s first deliveries are due in about three months, and Goyal has said he will publish a detailed note on how BrainFlow is calculated, along with its uses and limits. Independent studies and any regulatory review will shape how the Deepinder Goyal Temple bet is judged once the device reaches buyers.