Sarvam.AI, an indigenous AI startup from India, has successfully raised an impressive $41 million in its Series A funding round. The funding was led by Lightspeed Ventures and will be utilized to enhance the training of AI models, with a specific focus on incorporating a wide range of Indian languages and voice-centric interfaces.
Founded in July 2023 by Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar, both former employees of Infosys, Sarvam.AI aims to follow in the footsteps of their previous venture AI4Bharat, which was supported by Nandan Nilekani. Raghavan, who played a key role in the creation of Digital Public Goods like Aadhaar, has teamed up with Kumar to leverage Indian enterprise data and develop domain-specific AI models.
This substantial funding comes at a time when there is a growing interest in Generative AI startups in India, reflecting the increasing demand for tools such as ChatGPT. The Indian GenAI-based SaaS startup landscape has more than doubled since 2021, with investments totaling over $590 million by May 2023, as reported by SaaS Boomi and McKinsey.
In other AI news, Elon Musk’s xAI has launched its AI chatbot, Grok, exclusively for X Premium+ subscribers. The aim is to challenge OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT. Grok-1, xAI’s first product, leverages real-time information from X to provide up-to-date knowledge. What sets Grok apart is its wit and rebellious streak, impressively tackling even the spiciest queries.
Meanwhile, Google has unveiled its latest and most advanced language model to date, Gemini. This new model surpasses OpenAI’s GPT-4 and even outperforms human experts in multitask language understanding. Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, introduced Gemini 1.0 as a versatile and multimodal AI available in Ultra, Pro, and Nano sizes. Google’s AI chatbot, Bard, powered by Gemini Pro, excels in various tasks such as understanding, summarizing, reasoning, coding, and planning. Google plans to tap into cutting-edge models for Bard Advanced, starting with Gemini Ultra. Additionally, Pixel 8 Pro will utilize Gemini Nano for on-device tasks, enabling features like conversation summaries and AI-generated replies.
The European Union (EU) is currently working on establishing guidelines for artificial intelligence systems, specifically targeting chatbots like ChatGPT. After lengthy discussions, EU countries and lawmakers have reached a deal on regulations governing the use of AI. The focus of the discussions centered around the utilization of biometric surveillance for national security and military purposes, which some lawmakers aim to prohibit. Deliberations are ongoing, with the aim of clearly defining the boundaries of biometric surveillance within the regulatory framework for AI systems.
Amidst these developments, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has shared his prediction that generative AI will revolutionize customer experiences across Amazon’s enterprise and consumer domains. Jassy believes that this technology will democratize usage for developers and business users, ultimately leading to significant societal benefits. While acknowledging the existing risks associated with AI, Jassy emphasizes the importance of strengthening security measures rather than disregarding the potential of this transformative technology. Amazon’s significant investment in a generative AI center and the recent launch of chatbot Q demonstrate their commitment to innovation as they strive to rival industry giants like Microsoft and Google in the realm of productivity software.
As the world eagerly embraces the advancements in AI, startups like Sarvam.AI are leading the way in incorporating diverse languages, while Elon Musk’s xAI and Google’s Gemini continue to push the boundaries of what chatbots and language models can achieve. With the EU working towards establishing guidelines for AI systems and Amazon recognizing the potential of generative AI, it is clear that this technology is poised to reshape various industries and revolutionize customer experiences in the near future.
