For India, By India

With government backing, Bengaluru-based Sarvam Al is building the country's first sovereign LLM, tailored for Indian languages

- PALAK AGARWAL

IN 2022, CHATGPT'S launch triggered a seismic shift in global tech adoption. The generative AI chatbot amassed over a million users in just five days—setting a benchmark. Not surprisingly, India emerged as the second-largest user base after the United States, underscoring the country's immense digital consumption potential.

Yet, India took some time to develop its own foundational model. Sarvam Al is set to change that.

In a landmark move, the Government of India has selected the Bengaluru-based company to build the country's sovereign large language model (LLM)—a project expected to be ready within six months.

Co-founded in 2023 by Pratyush Kumar and Vivek Raghavan, Sarvam has quickly established itself as a frontrunner in building AI tailored for Indian linguistic and socio-economic contexts. The company had already made headlines in August 2024 with the launch of a full-stack, voice-enabled GenAI platform supporting 10 Indian languages—Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. Backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Peak XV Partners, Sarvam’s mission is to build AI that speaks to India.

Industry experts point out that Vivek Raghavan’s experience with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has added a layer of credibility to Sarvam.

“This is a crucial step toward building critical national AI infrastructure,” says Raghavan.