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Generative AI is a branch of artificial intelligence that can generate new content and data, such as text, images, audio, and video, based on existing data and models. This technology has immense potential to transform various sectors and industries, such as education, healthcare, entertainment, and e-commerce.
How are Indian AI Startups Innovating in Generative AI?
Indian AI startups are at the forefront of this emerging field, as they leverage the country’s rich and diverse data sources, linguistic and cultural diversity, and large-scale digital infrastructure. The Indian government has also shown its commitment to support and fund generative AI startups, as part of its AI Mission and vision to become a global leader in AI.
One of the most prominent examples of a homegrown generative AI startup is Sarvam AI, which raised $41 million in its Series A round earlier this month. This was the largest funding round at this stage for an Indian AI startup, led by Lightspeed and backed by Peak XV Partners and Khosla Ventures.
Sarvam AI was founded by Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar, who aim to develop the “full-stack” for generative AI, from research-led innovations in training custom AI models to an enterprise-grade platform for authoring and deployment. The startup will focus on building AI models that can support the diverse set of Indian languages and voice-first interfaces, as well as co-building domain-specific AI models with Indian enterprises. The startup also plans to create population-scale impact by layering generative AI on top of the highly successful India stack, which is a set of digital public goods, for social good applications.
“India has demonstrated that it can harness technology differently, and with GenAI we have an opportunity to re-imagine how this technology can add value to people’s lives,” said Raghavan. “The race towards ever more powerful AI is both an exciting and divisive one. We named our company Sarvam, which in Sanskrit means ‘all’, as we are intentionally invested in technical and ecosystem innovations that make this technology accessible to all,” Kumar added.
Sarvam AI is not alone in this space. According to reports, India is home to more than 70 generative AI startups that have raised more than $440 million to date. Some of the notable names include CoRover.ai, which has partnered with Google Cloud to launch BharatGPT, an indigenous generative AI platform that encapsulates India’s rich cultural heritage and flourishes in a cloud-first world. Google may also invest $4 million in the conversational AI startup, according to reports.
Another example is Ola, the ride-hailing giant, which has revealed ‘Krutrim’, described as ‘India’s own AI’ model. Krutrim, which means ‘artificial’ in Sanskrit, will come in two sizes: A base model named Krutrim trained on 2 trillion tokens and unique datasets, and a larger, more complex model called Krutrim Pro. “India-first AI should be able to understand the uniqueness and the right cultural context.
It needs to be trained on unique data sets specific to us. It needs to be accessible to India, with India-first cost structures,” said Ola Founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal. Krutrim can understand 22 Indian languages and generate content in about 10, including Marathi, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Odia, Gujarati and Malayalam.
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Why is Generative AI in Demand by Indian Enterprises?
The rise of generative AI startups in India is also fueled by the increasing demand and adoption of AI and machine learning (ML) by Indian enterprises. About 63 per cent of Indian enterprises are proactively directing investments towards AI and ML for the automation of their business processes in the forthcoming 12 months, witnessing 85 per cent growth in AI investments since last year.
According to the global software company Automation Anywhere, 33 per cent of these enterprises are strategically planning to adopt generative AI as a driving force for growth, reflecting a forward-looking approach towards innovative technologies in pursuit of business optimisation and transformation.
“Productivity is foundational to economic growth and the world’s next level of evolution. Intelligent automation, including AI and generative AI, are proving crucial to solving the massive productivity crisis unfolding in front of us,” said Ankur Kothari, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Automation Anywhere.
What is the Global Scenario for Generative AI?
The global scenario for generative AI is also promising, as the technology is underpinned by solid drivers, such as increasing patenting activity, talent acquisition, and valuation. Globally, generative AI startups raised $10 billion in venture capital in 2023, a huge 110 per cent rise compared to 2021. The slowdown in startup funding over the last couple of years, dubbed ‘startup winter’, was driven by rising interest rates, recessionary risks and an overall tough macro environment.
“Despite these challenges, generative AI startups raising record sums underscores the breakthrough nature of the technology, its widespread applicability, and its power to transform entire sectors and industries,” said Adarsh Jain, CFA, Director of Financial Markets team at GlobalData.
How is the Indian Government Supporting Generative AI?
The Indian government has also recognized the importance and potential of generative AI, and has announced its plans to fund and support AI startups in the country. The government will also deploy ‘financial resources’ to build foundational AI models, large language models (LLMs), and various use cases for the emerging technology.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the AI Mission, saying the aim is to establish the computing powers of AI within India. The government is now aiming to develop computational capacity for AI startups in the country.
Conclusion
Generative AI is the next frontier for Indian startups, as they leverage the country’s unique strengths and opportunities to create innovative and impactful solutions for various domains and sectors. With the support of the government and investors, India is poised to become a global leader in this cutting-edge technology.
