Explained: Why has Temple kicked off a public fight between Deepinder Goyal and LiverDoc
Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal has found himself in a battle of words with TheLiverDoc, and it all stems from Goyal's upcoming device, Temple. But why are they fighting about Temple? Here is all you need to know.
The gloves are off. Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal is not holding back, but neither is hepatologist Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, popularly known as TheLiverDoc. The two seem to be in a war of words on X, and the topic of this debate is Goyal’s Rs 85,000 device, Temple.
The matter has escalated to the extent that Deepinder Goyal now plans to reveal why he created Temple in the first place. While Goyal plans to upload his note on starting Temple shortly, he took a dig at TheLiverDoc in his announcement post on X. "Stay tuned. PS – holier-than-thou Indian doctors can skip this lol," he wrote.
But this public fight began when Deepinder Goyal called out critics for their comments on Temple. “If Temple were a scam, and any of what we said weren’t true, people would know it in just a few days of using Temple,” he wrote. While he did not name Philips in particular, Goyal addressed the post to “concerned Indian doctors.” Deepinder Goyal also claimed that he has invested $20 million of his own money into the device’s development.
The Zomato co-founder insisted that the Temple team was confident about how the device worked. “We believe in our science, and the product is now valuable enough for people to pay for and use,” Goyal added. “Hope this addresses some or all of your concerns. If not, keep raging.”
Dr Cyriac Abby Philips responded in kind. “As expected, he has written a word salad. This man has provided no real evidence or proof (of the device),” he wrote. “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.” Philips also claimed that Goyal had blocked him on X.
But how has the situation got to this point? Why are medical professionals like Philips calling out the Temple? Let’s break down this entire beef for you.
Deepinder Goyal’s Temple claims
Going by claims made by Deepinder Goyal and the Temple team, the wearable is unlike a smartwatch or a smart ring. Temple is a small bean-shaped device that sits on the side of your forehead.
The unique selling point, or USP, of the Temple is BrainFlow. Goyal says that the device can monitor changes in blood flow to the brain. “Until now, you could only measure it in a clinical setting, in a single snapshot,” Deepinder Goyal said on X previously. “Temple measures it continuously, in real time, while you live your life.”
There’s also entropy, which is said to be a real-time score of how hard your body is working to sustain itself.” 1 is the deepest rest we've ever recorded. We've only seen fit, experienced meditators touch it, for fleeting moments deep in practice,” Goyal wrote on X. “250 is the highest we've seen in elite athletes at the peak of their output and flow.”
TheLiverDoc questions Temple’s claims
While Goyal and his team have made claims on what Temple does, not all are convinced. TheLiverDoc has accused Temple of being “desi Theranos.” Theranos was an American healthcare startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2015. The startup shut down for making misleading claims over its Edison device. Holmes was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
On social media, TheLiverDoc shared a breakdown of why he believes Deepinder Goyal’s claims were false, going as far as calling Goyal “Atma Nirbhar Bharat Elizabeth Holmes.”
In the post, he alleged that Temple was simply tracking blood flow on the foreskin and not inside the brain. "They cheated. This is data fraud," one slide said. "They manipulated signals coming off the skin to look like it came from brain tissue."
While Temple has shared pre-print research studies on the device’s effectiveness, critics have questioned the studies as peer-reviews are still pending. TheLiverDoc also accused the company of poor methodology and statistical misrepresentation in its pre-print papers.
Deepinder Goyal says Temple not a medical device
This brings us back to today. In his long post, Goyal claimed that Temple is not a medical device. “Temple is a fitness tracker, and wellness device. We are not a medical device. If at some point, we clinically validate any of our metrics, we will let you know,” he wrote.
Though Goyal previously said that “Temple tracks heart rate more accurately than standard-wear ECG chest straps in Zones 4 & 5.”
TheLiverDoc took a dig at this comment, questioning the Rs 85,000 price tag. “Now he claims it is just a "fitness tracker" and has nothing to do with the brain? Wow,” he wrote. “So $900 for a mere fitness tracker made in India with different claims?”
Philips added that Temple’s science lead, Avi Roy, had acknowledged that the device was not yet proven to measure brain blood flow or “entropy.” The health expert claimed that no matter what Goyal said, the device could not live up to its promises. “This is the issue, not what can happen in the future. The device itself fails its primary objective,” he said.
While this beef on X is unlikely to subside, at least for now, Temple is open for pre-orders. Those interested can book their device via the official website. Temple comes in six colour options – True Gold, Rose Gold, Dark Mirror, Deep Blue, Real Jade, and Purple Funk.
The gloves are off. Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal is not holding back, but neither is hepatologist Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, popularly known as TheLiverDoc. The two seem to be in a war of words on X, and the topic of this debate is Goyal’s Rs 85,000 device, Temple.
The matter has escalated to the extent that Deepinder Goyal now plans to reveal why he created Temple in the first place. While Goyal plans to upload his note on starting Temple shortly, he took a dig at TheLiverDoc in his announcement post on X. "Stay tuned. PS – holier-than-thou Indian doctors can skip this lol," he wrote.
But this public fight began when Deepinder Goyal called out critics for their comments on Temple. “If Temple were a scam, and any of what we said weren’t true, people would know it in just a few days of using Temple,” he wrote. While he did not name Philips in particular, Goyal addressed the post to “concerned Indian doctors.” Deepinder Goyal also claimed that he has invested $20 million of his own money into the device’s development.
The Zomato co-founder insisted that the Temple team was confident about how the device worked. “We believe in our science, and the product is now valuable enough for people to pay for and use,” Goyal added. “Hope this addresses some or all of your concerns. If not, keep raging.”
Dr Cyriac Abby Philips responded in kind. “As expected, he has written a word salad. This man has provided no real evidence or proof (of the device),” he wrote. “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.” Philips also claimed that Goyal had blocked him on X.
But how has the situation got to this point? Why are medical professionals like Philips calling out the Temple? Let’s break down this entire beef for you.
Deepinder Goyal’s Temple claims
Going by claims made by Deepinder Goyal and the Temple team, the wearable is unlike a smartwatch or a smart ring. Temple is a small bean-shaped device that sits on the side of your forehead.
The unique selling point, or USP, of the Temple is BrainFlow. Goyal says that the device can monitor changes in blood flow to the brain. “Until now, you could only measure it in a clinical setting, in a single snapshot,” Deepinder Goyal said on X previously. “Temple measures it continuously, in real time, while you live your life.”
There’s also entropy, which is said to be a real-time score of how hard your body is working to sustain itself.” 1 is the deepest rest we've ever recorded. We've only seen fit, experienced meditators touch it, for fleeting moments deep in practice,” Goyal wrote on X. “250 is the highest we've seen in elite athletes at the peak of their output and flow.”
TheLiverDoc questions Temple’s claims
While Goyal and his team have made claims on what Temple does, not all are convinced. TheLiverDoc has accused Temple of being “desi Theranos.” Theranos was an American healthcare startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2015. The startup shut down for making misleading claims over its Edison device. Holmes was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
On social media, TheLiverDoc shared a breakdown of why he believes Deepinder Goyal’s claims were false, going as far as calling Goyal “Atma Nirbhar Bharat Elizabeth Holmes.”
In the post, he alleged that Temple was simply tracking blood flow on the foreskin and not inside the brain. "They cheated. This is data fraud," one slide said. "They manipulated signals coming off the skin to look like it came from brain tissue."
While Temple has shared pre-print research studies on the device’s effectiveness, critics have questioned the studies as peer-reviews are still pending. TheLiverDoc also accused the company of poor methodology and statistical misrepresentation in its pre-print papers.
Deepinder Goyal says Temple not a medical device
This brings us back to today. In his long post, Goyal claimed that Temple is not a medical device. “Temple is a fitness tracker, and wellness device. We are not a medical device. If at some point, we clinically validate any of our metrics, we will let you know,” he wrote.
Though Goyal previously said that “Temple tracks heart rate more accurately than standard-wear ECG chest straps in Zones 4 & 5.”
TheLiverDoc took a dig at this comment, questioning the Rs 85,000 price tag. “Now he claims it is just a "fitness tracker" and has nothing to do with the brain? Wow,” he wrote. “So $900 for a mere fitness tracker made in India with different claims?”
Philips added that Temple’s science lead, Avi Roy, had acknowledged that the device was not yet proven to measure brain blood flow or “entropy.” The health expert claimed that no matter what Goyal said, the device could not live up to its promises. “This is the issue, not what can happen in the future. The device itself fails its primary objective,” he said.
While this beef on X is unlikely to subside, at least for now, Temple is open for pre-orders. Those interested can book their device via the official website. Temple comes in six colour options – True Gold, Rose Gold, Dark Mirror, Deep Blue, Real Jade, and Purple Funk.
The gloves are off. Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal is not holding back, but neither is hepatologist Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, popularly known as TheLiverDoc. The two seem to be in a war of words on X, and the topic of this debate is Goyal’s Rs 85,000 device, Temple.
The matter has escalated to the extent that Deepinder Goyal now plans to reveal why he created Temple in the first place. While Goyal plans to upload his note on starting Temple shortly, he took a dig at TheLiverDoc in his announcement post on X. "Stay tuned. PS – holier-than-thou Indian doctors can skip this lol," he wrote.
But this public fight began when Deepinder Goyal called out critics for their comments on Temple. “If Temple were a scam, and any of what we said weren’t true, people would know it in just a few days of using Temple,” he wrote. While he did not name Philips in particular, Goyal addressed the post to “concerned Indian doctors.” Deepinder Goyal also claimed that he has invested $20 million of his own money into the device’s development.
The Zomato co-founder insisted that the Temple team was confident about how the device worked. “We believe in our science, and the product is now valuable enough for people to pay for and use,” Goyal added. “Hope this addresses some or all of your concerns. If not, keep raging.”
Dr Cyriac Abby Philips responded in kind. “As expected, he has written a word salad. This man has provided no real evidence or proof (of the device),” he wrote. “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.” Philips also claimed that Goyal had blocked him on X.
But how has the situation got to this point? Why are medical professionals like Philips calling out the Temple? Let’s break down this entire beef for you.
Deepinder Goyal’s Temple claims
Going by claims made by Deepinder Goyal and the Temple team, the wearable is unlike a smartwatch or a smart ring. Temple is a small bean-shaped device that sits on the side of your forehead.
The unique selling point, or USP, of the Temple is BrainFlow. Goyal says that the device can monitor changes in blood flow to the brain. “Until now, you could only measure it in a clinical setting, in a single snapshot,” Deepinder Goyal said on X previously. “Temple measures it continuously, in real time, while you live your life.”
There’s also entropy, which is said to be a real-time score of how hard your body is working to sustain itself.” 1 is the deepest rest we've ever recorded. We've only seen fit, experienced meditators touch it, for fleeting moments deep in practice,” Goyal wrote on X. “250 is the highest we've seen in elite athletes at the peak of their output and flow.”
TheLiverDoc questions Temple’s claims
While Goyal and his team have made claims on what Temple does, not all are convinced. TheLiverDoc has accused Temple of being “desi Theranos.” Theranos was an American healthcare startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2015. The startup shut down for making misleading claims over its Edison device. Holmes was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
On social media, TheLiverDoc shared a breakdown of why he believes Deepinder Goyal’s claims were false, going as far as calling Goyal “Atma Nirbhar Bharat Elizabeth Holmes.”
In the post, he alleged that Temple was simply tracking blood flow on the foreskin and not inside the brain. "They cheated. This is data fraud," one slide said. "They manipulated signals coming off the skin to look like it came from brain tissue."
While Temple has shared pre-print research studies on the device’s effectiveness, critics have questioned the studies as peer-reviews are still pending. TheLiverDoc also accused the company of poor methodology and statistical misrepresentation in its pre-print papers.
Deepinder Goyal says Temple not a medical device
This brings us back to today. In his long post, Goyal claimed that Temple is not a medical device. “Temple is a fitness tracker, and wellness device. We are not a medical device. If at some point, we clinically validate any of our metrics, we will let you know,” he wrote.
Though Goyal previously said that “Temple tracks heart rate more accurately than standard-wear ECG chest straps in Zones 4 & 5.”
TheLiverDoc took a dig at this comment, questioning the Rs 85,000 price tag. “Now he claims it is just a "fitness tracker" and has nothing to do with the brain? Wow,” he wrote. “So $900 for a mere fitness tracker made in India with different claims?”
Philips added that Temple’s science lead, Avi Roy, had acknowledged that the device was not yet proven to measure brain blood flow or “entropy.” The health expert claimed that no matter what Goyal said, the device could not live up to its promises. “This is the issue, not what can happen in the future. The device itself fails its primary objective,” he said.
While this beef on X is unlikely to subside, at least for now, Temple is open for pre-orders. Those interested can book their device via the official website. Temple comes in six colour options – True Gold, Rose Gold, Dark Mirror, Deep Blue, Real Jade, and Purple Funk.
