In a sharp public critique, Dr. Suvrankar Datta, a radiologist and AI researcher trained at the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi, has dismissed Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal’s experimental wearable device, dubbed “Temple,” as having “zero scientific standing” and labeling it a “fancy toy for billionaires.”
The controversy resurfaced in early January 2026 when Goyal appeared on popular podcaster Raj Shamani’s show wearing a small metallic device attached to his temple. The gadget, which Goyal has been testing personally for over a year, is designed to continuously monitor real-time cerebral blood flow. It stems from Goyal’s personal “Gravity Aging Hypothesis,” which posits that gravity gradually reduces blood flow to the brain over time, thereby accelerating the aging process.
Goyal has reportedly invested millions of dollars into research around this concept, though the device remains experimental and is not a commercial product tied to Zomato.
Dr. Datta, who has conducted early research on arterial stiffness—a key marker of cardiovascular health—took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice his skepticism. He argued that while the idea of continuous monitoring is intriguing, the Temple device currently lacks rigorous scientific validation. Specifically, he pointed out that the gold standard for assessing arterial stiffness and its impact on vascular health is carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), a metric extensively validated in clinical guidelines and large-scale studies.
Measuring blood flow or stiffness at the superficial temporal artery (near the temple) is not considered a reliable proxy, according to Dr. Datta, due to numerous confounding factors that can skew readings at that site.
“Zero scientific standing at the moment,” Dr. Datta wrote, adding that it appears to be an expensive indulgence for the ultra-wealthy rather than a breakthrough accessible or proven for the wider public. He advised caution against purchasing similar unvalidated health gadgets.
As of January 5, 2026, Deepinder Goyal has not publicly responded to Dr. Datta’s specific criticism. The episode has reignited broader debates in the health-tech community about the balance between innovative experimentation backed by billionaire entrepreneurs and the need for peer-reviewed evidence before widespread adoption or hype.
While devices like Temple highlight the growing interest in personalized, continuous health monitoring, experts emphasize that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence—particularly when public figures promote cutting-edge concepts that could influence consumer behavior.
This clash underscores a familiar tension in modern wellness tech: bold vision versus clinical rigor. Until independent, peer-reviewed studies validate the device’s measurements against established standards like cfPWV, the Temple remains, in the eyes of critics like Dr. Datta, more novelty than medical necessity.
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