🇮🇳 India's AI Race: Sarvam's Indus App 🚀
Tech
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Sarvam, an Indian AI startup, recently launched its Indus chat app, entering a rapidly expanding market in India, a key area for generative AI adoption. The app, built around Sarvam’s 105B model, offers text and audio responses to user queries available in beta on iOS, Android, and the web. This launch follows Sarvam’s unveiling of its models at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, where the company also detailed enterprise initiatives and partnerships with companies like HMD and Bosch. The startup, backed by Khosla Ventures, currently limits service availability to India, mirroring the growing global interest in AI technologies within the country.
LAUNCH OF INDUS: A NEW PLAYER IN INDIA’S AI LANDSCAPE
The recent launch of Indus, developed by Sarvam, an Indian AI startup, marks a significant entry into the rapidly expanding generative AI market within India. Sarvam’s strategic focus on building large language models specifically for local languages and users positions them as a key contender in a space increasingly dominated by global giants like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. This launch directly responds to India’s burgeoning interest in generative AI, highlighted by recent statistics indicating ChatGPT’s substantial user base (over 100 million weekly active users) and Claude’s usage, accounting for 5.8% of total usage, largely driven by Indian users.
SARVAM’S INDUS: CORE FEATURES AND INITIAL LIMITATIONS
The Indus chat application serves as the user interface for Sarvam’s newly unveiled Sarvam 105B model, a 105-billion-parameter large language model. Currently available in beta across iOS, Android, and the web, the app enables users to interact through text and audio queries. Sign-in options are provided via phone number, Google account, or Apple ID, though the service is presently restricted to India. Early users have encountered certain limitations, including the inability to delete chat history without account deletion and the lack of an option to disable the reasoning feature, which can occasionally impact response speeds. Sarvam acknowledges these limitations and is actively working to address them, stating that access may be restricted initially due to the company’s gradual expansion of compute capacity, leading to potential waitlist scenarios.
STRATEGIC PILLARS AND PARTNERSHIPS FOR SARVAM’S GROWTH
Sarvam’s ambitions extend beyond the Indus app. The startup unveiled its 105B and 30B models at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, showcasing its commitment to developing AI solutions tailored for the Indian market. Furthermore, Sarvam has established key partnerships to broaden its reach and impact. These include collaborations with HMD to integrate AI into Nokia feature phones and Bosch for AI-enabled automotive applications. Sarvam is also backed by investors such as Khosla Ventures, reflecting confidence in the company’s vision to build domestic alternatives to global AI platforms. This strategic approach underscores Sarvam's determination to contribute to India’s growing control over its AI infrastructure and foster innovation within the country’s burgeoning AI sector.
This article is AI-synthesized from public sources and may not reflect original reporting.