India’s AI landscape gained a new contender Friday with the launch of Indus, a chat application developed by Sarvam AI. The app, available in beta on iOS, Android, and the web, aims to provide a domestic alternative to global generative AI platforms like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s offerings.
Sarvam AI unveiled Indus alongside its newly announced 105B model – a 105-billion-parameter large language model – at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi earlier this week, according to reports. The launch positions Sarvam as a key player in a rapidly expanding Indian market, where ChatGPT already boasts over 100 million weekly active users, and Claude accounts for 5.8% of its total usage, second only to the United States.
The Indus app allows users to interact through text or voice, receiving responses in both text and audio formats. Access is currently limited to users in India, who can sign in using their phone number, Google account, or Apple ID. Sarvam co-founder Pratyush Kumar acknowledged potential access restrictions on X, stating that the rollout is occurring on limited compute capacity and access will be expanded over time as the company gathers user feedback.
While offering a native AI experience, Indus currently has limitations. Users are unable to delete individual chat histories without deleting their entire account, and the app’s reasoning feature, while intended to enhance responses, can sometimes slow down processing times. Sarvam has cautioned users about potential waitlists due to ongoing capacity constraints.
Founded in 2023, Sarvam AI has secured $41 million in funding from investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Peak XV Partners, and Khosla Ventures, fueling its development of large language models specifically tailored for the Indian market. The company is not alone in this endeavor; a growing number of Indian startups are striving to create domestic AI alternatives, reflecting India’s ambition to establish greater control over its AI infrastructure.
Beyond the chat application, Sarvam has announced partnerships aimed at broadening the reach of its AI technology. These include a collaboration with HMD to integrate AI capabilities into Nokia feature phones and a partnership with Bosch to develop AI-enabled applications for the automotive industry. These initiatives were also highlighted at the India AI Impact Summit.
