Key Highlights:
- The launch comes as global AI players report massive growth in India.
- Sarvam AI has launched Indus, a new AI chat app for Indian users.
- The app is powered by Sarvam’s 105-billion-parameter language model.
- Indus supports text and voice queries in multiple Indian languages.
Sarvam AI has launched Indus, a new AI chat app for web and mobile users in India. The app is powered by the company’s 105B large language model and supports text and voice interactions in Indian languages.
The launch places Sarvam directly in competition with global AI platforms at a time when India is emerging as one of the fastest-growing AI markets.
Why Sarvam AI is launching Indus now
India has become a key battleground for generative AI adoption. Global players are already seeing massive usage growth in the country. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently said ChatGPT has crossed 100 million weekly active users in India. Meanwhile, Anthropic revealed that India accounts for 5.8% of total usage of its Claude chatbot, second only to the U.S. Against this backdrop, Sarvam AI is positioning Indus as a homegrown alternative designed specifically for Indian users.
What powers the Indus AI chat app
Indus serves as the primary chat interface for Sarvam’s newly announced 105B model. The company also introduced a smaller 30B model earlier this week. Both models were unveiled at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. Sarvam said the models are trained to better understand Indian languages, contexts, and real-world use cases. Users can type or speak queries and receive responses in text or audio. Sign-in options include phone number, Google, Microsoft, and Apple ID. For now, access appears limited to India.
What are the current limitations
Indus is still in beta, and some restrictions apply. Users cannot delete chat history without deleting their account. There is also no option to disable the app’s reasoning mode, which may slow responses. Sarvam has warned that users may encounter waitlists as the company gradually expands its compute capacity.
Sarvam’s bigger ambitions
Founded in 2023, Sarvam has raised $41 million from investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Peak XV Partners, and Khosla Ventures. The startup has also announced partnerships with HMD to bring AI to Nokia feature phones and with Bosch for automotive AI applications. With Indus, Sarvam AI is making a clear statement. India does not just want to use global AI tools. It wants to build its own.
