9 Sources
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MeitY to Back Sarvam AI, Soket AI Labs, Gnani.ai for IndiaAI Mission | AIM Media House
Soket AI Labs confirmed that they have proposed building an LLM in 12 months, and smaller models within six months. The electronics and information technology ministry (MeitY), as part of the ambitious ₹10,000 crore IndiaAI Mission project, has decided to back Sarvam AI, Soket AI Labs, Gnani.ai,
[2]
Bengaluru-Based Sarvam AI Selected Under IndiaAI Mission to Build India's Sovereign LLM | AIM Media House
The company has proposed developing a 70-billion-parameter multimodal AI model that supports both Indian languages and English, and work on it has already begun. The Government of India has selected Sarvam AI under the IndiaAI Mission to develop India's sovereign Large Language Model (LLM) as part
[3]
Experts make a new case for open-source path to Indian LLMs
This debate, which has been brewing in the community, has come up after Sarvam AI was selected to build the country's indigenous large language model under the IndiaAI Mission. The company was given access to close to 4,100 Nvidia H100 graphic processing units, and six months to build the
[4]
Sarvam and three other AI firms in MeitY's LLM build out first shortlist
Soket AI Labs' founder Abhishek Upperwal said it has proposed to create a 120-billion parameter open-source Indic LLM (large language model) trained on 2 trillion tokens under the 'EKA Project'. Upperwal did not share the funding requirement. Meanwhile, Gnani.ai and Gan.ai have proposed to build
[5]
Sarvam AI selected to build indigenous foundational model under IndiaAI Mission
The government on Saturday announced that Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup Sarvam AI is the first startup selected to build an indigenous foundational model under the IndiaAI Mission. ET was the first to report on April 24 that Sarvam was one of the players selected for
[6]
Can Sarvam AI overcome challenges to build India's first indigenous LLM under the INDIAai Mission?
The writer is senior fellow, Portulans Institute, Washington DC Last week, Bengaluru-based Sarvam AI became the first startup chosen by GoI to build an indigenous foundational LLM under INDIAai Mission, reportedly from among over 400 applicants. GoI will allocate the company 4,096 Nvidia H100 GPUs
[7]
Sarvam, Gnani Likely To Get Incentives For Building AI Models: Report Sarvam, Gnani Likely To Get Incentives For Building AI Models: Report
"We did apply for the IndiaAI proposal but haven't received any confirmation yet. Waiting for IndiaAI to get back to us," Soket AI Labs told Inc42 The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) may offer incentives to startups such as Sarvam AI, Soket AI Labs, Gnani.ai and Gan.ai
[8]
Sarvam To Build India's First Homegrown Sovereign AI Model
The LLM will be fully developed, deployed and optimised within the country, using local talent and infrastructure The Centre has picked Bengaluru-based GenAI startup Sarvam AI to build India's first homegrown sovereign large language model (LLM) under the IndiaAI Mission. Sarvam said in a
[9]
IndiaAI Mission Funds Sarvam AI to Develop Sovereign LLM
The Government of India selected Bengaluru-based Sarvam AI to build India's sovereign Large Language Model (LLM) under its IndiaAI mission. However, the 'first sovereign LLM of India' will not be open-sourced, and a government body will take equity in Sarvam AI in exchange for the Government of
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The Indian government has selected Sarvam AI and other startups to develop indigenous AI models as part of the ₹10,000 crore IndiaAI Mission, marking a significant step towards building sovereign AI capabilities in India.

The Indian government has taken a significant step towards developing sovereign AI capabilities by selecting several startups under the ₹10,000 crore IndiaAI Mission. Bengaluru-based Sarvam AI has been chosen as the primary company to build India's indigenous Large Language Model (LLM), with other firms like Soket AI Labs, Gnani.ai, and Gan.ai also shortlisted for various AI projects
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.Sarvam AI, founded by Dr. Vivek Raghavan and Dr. Pratyush Kumar, has proposed to develop a 70-billion parameter multimodal AI model that supports both Indian languages and English
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. The company will receive access to approximately 4,100 Nvidia H100 GPUs, valued at around ₹200 crore, to build the model within six months3
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.The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) announced a ₹1,500 crore incentive fund for entities building AI models from scratch. The selection process saw 67 initial applications, followed by an additional 120 in March
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. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is expected to make an official announcement about the selected firms soon4
.The selection of Sarvam AI has sparked a debate within the Indian tech community about whether government-funded AI models should be open-sourced
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. Proponents argue that open-sourcing would accelerate learning and growth in the tech community, especially for smaller players. However, others contend that keeping the models proprietary could give Indian businesses a competitive edge globally3
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This initiative is seen as a crucial step towards "Atmanirbhar Bharat" (self-reliant India) in the AI domain
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. The government aims to have three foundational models by the end of the year, positioning India as a significant player in the global AI landscape4
. The IndiaAI Mission also includes the empanelment of 10 GPU-as-a-service providers to build a common compute facility, offering GPU access at competitive rates1
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.As India accelerates its efforts in AI development, challenges remain in terms of data privacy, ethical considerations, and ensuring that the benefits of these technologies reach all segments of society. The success of these indigenous AI models could potentially reshape India's technological landscape and its position in the global AI race.
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