Microsoft, Sarvam AI to develop voice-based Gen-AI tools for India
Microsoft has teamed up with Indian start-up Sarvam AI to create voice-based generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Sarvam AI specializes in developing AI models for Indic languages and context with greater accuracy and cost effectiveness. Founded by Pratyush Kumar and Vivek Raghavan in July 2023, Sarvam AI had launched 'OpenHathi-Hi-v0.1,' its Hindi Large Language Model (LLM), in December.
Microsoft to tap into Sarvam's Indic voice offering
Through their collaboration with Microsoft, Sarvam will offer its Indic voice large language model (LLMs) on Microsoft's cloud platform, Azure. According to Microsoft, Sarvam AI will only be available in Hindi initially. However, Sarvam AI is also working to expand coverage to more Indian languages and is trying to include local variations in languages. The company has so far raised $41 million in Series A funding from Lightspeed Ventures, Peak XV Partners, and Khosla Ventures.
Sectors like education, finance, healthcare can benefit from voice AI
As per Microsoft, voice is one of the most universal interfaces for AI products in Indian languages. It can be applied to sectors like education, finance, healthcare, and customer service. "By working to make Sarvam AI's Indic voice LLM available on Azure, Microsoft is laying the foundations for more India-focused developers to build real-time, voice-based generative AI apps at scale," the company said in a statement.