Sarvam, an Indian AI startup focused on building models for local languages and users, on Friday launched its chat app Indus for web and mobile users, entering a fast-growing market dominated by global players including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.
The launch comes at a time when India has emerged as a key battleground for the generative adoption of AI. Recently, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said ChatGPT has more than 100 million weekly active users in India, while Anthropic said India accounts for 5.8% of total Cloud usage, second only to the US.
Indus serves as the chat interface for its newly announced Sarvam 105B, the company’s large language model with 105 billion parameters. The app launch 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. At the summit, the startup also outlined corporate initiatives and hardware plans, and announced partnerships with companies including HMD to bring AI to Nokia and Bosch phones for AI automotive applications.
Currently available in beta for iOS, Android and web, the Indus app allows users to type or speak questions and receive text and audio responses. Users can sign in using their phone number, Google Account or Apple ID, though the service appears to be limited to India for now.
The app currently comes with some limitations. Users can’t delete their chat history without deleting their account, and there’s no option to turn off the app’s reasoning feature, which can sometimes slow down response times. Sarvam also warned that access may be limited as it gradually expands its computing capacity.
“We’re rolling out Indus on a limited compute basis, so you can get on a waiting list first. We’ll expand access over time,” Sarvam co-founder Pratyush Kumar wrote on X, adding that the company is looking for user feedback.
Founded in 2023, Sarvam has so far raised $41 million from investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Peak XV Partners and Khosla Ventures as it builds large language models tailored for India.
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Sarvam is one of a small but growing group of Indian startups trying to build domestic alternatives to global AI platforms as India seeks greater control over its AI infrastructure.