Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has confirmed that Sarvam AI is on the verge of launch. At the NDTV World Summit in Delhi on October 18, Vaishnaw announced that the Bengaluru-based start-up Sarvam's AI model will be launched either in December 2025 or January 2026.
“I will start using Sarvam,” he said, signalling the government's growing engagement with indigenous AI technologies.
What Is Sarvam AI
Sarvam AI, often described as India's answer to OpenAI, is a Bengaluru-based start-up translating advanced AI research into practical governance and business solutions.
Last year, in August 2024, the company introduced software for businesses that allows interaction with customers through spoken voice rather than just text. This technology was trained using data from 10 native Indian languages.
Sarvam AI aims to bridge the digital divide in India, where chatbots in English are accessible primarily to urban users. By using local language data, Sarvam's voice AI can reach a wider audience, potentially serving users across India and even internationally. Its solutions are designed to enable real-time verbal interactions and automate certain tasks, positioning India as a testing ground for the next frontier of generative AI.
How Is The Government Collaborating With Sarvam AI
Earlier this year, in April, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) partnered with Sarvam AI to improve the user experience of Aadhaar services. The collaboration focuses on using generative AI to make Aadhaar services smarter, more secure and responsive.
Under the agreement, Sarvam AI will deploy its solution to perform voice-based interactions for resident-centric use cases.
This includes gathering near-real-time feedback from Aadhaar number holders regarding their enrolment and update processes and identifying instances of overcharging, if any.
The AI system will also provide real-time fraud alerts when suspicious activity is detected during authentication requests.
Which Languages Will Sarvam AI Support Initially
The deployment will initially support voice interaction and fraud detection in 10 languages: Hindi, English, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Odia, Punjabi and Malayalam. Plans are in place to expand language options further in the coming months, improving accessibility across India's linguistically diverse population.
How Is Sarvam AI Handling Data Security
Sarvam AI has developed a custom generative AI stack hosted on-premise within UIDAI's air-gapped infrastructure. No data will leave UIDAI's secure environment at any stage, ensuring full compliance with data sovereignty and security protocols. The partnership is initially valid for one year, with the option to extend for an additional year.
Why Is Sarvam AI Significant For India
By integrating voice-based AI in local languages, Sarvam AI addresses a limitation of previous chatbots in India, which were largely restricted to English. This initiative has the potential to make AI services more inclusive, enabling real-time, verbal interaction for millions of residents and paving the way for new AI applications in governance and business.
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