India, Dec. 23 -- Conversational AI startup Yellow.ai has laid off more than 100 employees over the past few weeks amid rising automation, sources told Inc42. The layoffs affected about 30% of the startup's workforce.

The job cuts were carried out in multiple phases and largely affected engineering and product teams, the sources said. The startup has also deferred or cancelled salary increments and appraisals for the past two years, they added.

Notably, this is not the first round of layoffs at the Bengaluru-based startup this year. According to the EPFO data, Yellow.ai also reduced its headcount in August, when around 40-50 employees were let go.

Responding to Inc42's queries, a spokesperson of Yellow.ai said in a statement, "The ente...