Indian Sarvam launches Indus AI chat app as competition heats up | TechCrunch

Sarvaman Indian AI startup focused on building models for local languages ​​and users, launched its Indus chat app for web and mobile users on Friday, entering a fast-growing market dominated by global players including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.

The launch comes at a time when India has become a key battleground for generative AI adoption. Recently, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that ChatGPT has over 100 million weekly active users in India, while Anthropic said India accounts for 5.8% of total Claude usagethe second after the US

Indus acts as a chat interface for the recently announced Sarvam 105B model, the company’s large language model with 105 billion parameters. The launch of the app comes two days after Bengaluru-based Sarvam unveiled its 105B and 30B models at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi earlier this week. During the summit, the startup also outlined business initiatives and hardware plans and announced partnerships with companies including HMD to bring AI to Nokia phones and Bosch for AI-enabled automotive applications.

Currently available in beta version iOS, Androidand the webThe Indus app allows users to type or speak questions and receive answers in text and audio. Users can log in with their phone number, Google account or Apple ID, although the service appears to be limited to India for now.

The app currently has some limitations. Users can’t delete their chat history without deleting their account, and there’s no option to disable the app’s reasoning feature, which can sometimes slow down response times. Sarvam has also warned that access may be limited as it gradually expands its computing capacity.

“We are rolling out Indus gradually with limited computing capacity, so you may be on a waitlist initially. We will expand access over time,” Sarvam co-founder Pratyush Kumar wrote on X, adding that the company is seeking user feedback.

Founded in 2023, Sarvam has raised $41 million to date from investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Peak XV Partners and Khosla Ventures as it builds large language models tailored for India.

Sarvam is among a small but growing group of Indian startups trying to build domestic alternatives to global artificial intelligence platforms as India seeks greater control over its AI infrastructure.