Union Minister for Railways, Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, recently shared significant developments in India’s pursuit of technological self-reliance. He announced on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that discussions were held with Sarvam AI, a pioneering startup, to explore options for developing India’s sovereign Large Language Model (LLM). Highlighting the immense potential of Indian language models, Vaishnaw emphasised their capability to address population-scale challenges effectively.

Sarvam AI, a Bengaluru-based startup, has made remarkable strides in the generative AI domain. Known for creating models and solutions tailored to India’s unique linguistic and cultural diversity, Sarvam AI gained significant recognition when it launched Sarvam-1. This innovative AI model is optimised for Indian languages and supports English alongside ten major Indian languages, including Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. Sarvam-1 has demonstrated exceptional performance, surpassing global counterparts like Google’s Gemma-2 and Meta’s Llama-3 in specific benchmarks.

In a noteworthy collaboration in December 2023, NITI Aayog partnered with Sarvam AI to pilot an Enterprise Reasoning Engine (ERE) atop the National Data and Analytics Portal (NDAP). This initiative aims to enhance the usability of structured and unstructured data, enabling more informed decision-making across government and private sectors. The ERE is designed to offer a natural language interface, simplifying data management and access for a diverse range of users.

Sarvam AI’s reputation as a leader in Indian AI innovation has earned accolades from experts. Raj Dabre, a distinguished researcher at NICT Kyoto and faculty member at IIT Madras and IIT Bombay, expressed strong support for the startup’s potential. He remarked, “If there is one company in India that has the highest potential to build an IndicLLM, it has to be Sarvam AI.”

The startup’s collaboration with global and national entities further underscores its capability. In October 2024, Sarvam AI partnered with Infosys to develop small language models for the Infosys Topaz Baking SLM and Topaz ITOpsSLM systems. Additionally, the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) announced a partnership with Meta earlier this year to incorporate Sarvam AI’s AI Assistant into the Skill India Mission. The collaboration established five Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) at National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Jodhpur, Chennai, and Kanpur.

This momentum reflects the Indian government’s commitment to fostering innovation in artificial intelligence, particularly through initiatives that strengthen the nation’s digital infrastructure. The development of a sovereign LLM is expected to bolster India’s capabilities in leveraging AI for public welfare, addressing local challenges, and promoting linguistic inclusivity.

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