India’s Sarvam launches Indus AI chat app as competition heats up

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

The launch comes as India has become a key battleground for generative AI adoption. 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 Claude usage, second only to the U.S.

Indus serves as a chat interface for its newly announced Sarvam 105B model, the company’s 105-billion-parameter large language model. The app’s 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 enterprise initiatives and hardware plans and announced partnerships with companies including HMD to bring AI to Nokia feature phones and Bosch for AI-enabled automotive applications.

Currently available in beta on iOS, Android, and the web, the Indus app allows users to type or speak queries and receive responses in text and audio. Users can sign in using their phone number, Google or Microsoft account, or Apple ID, though the service appears to be limited to India for now.

The app currently comes with some limitations. Users cannot delete their chat history without deleting their account, and there is no option to turn off the app’s reasoning feature, which can sometimes slow response times. Sarvam has also warned that access may be restricted as it gradually expands its compute capacity.

“We’re gradually rolling out Indus on a limited compute capacity, so you may hit a waitlist at first. We will expand access over time,” Sarvam co-founder Pratyush Kumar wrote on X, adding that the company is seeking feedback from users.

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