Sarvam AI Launches Indus Chat App In India To Compete With Giants

Sarvam AI launches the Indus chat app in India. Learn about the Sarvam 105B model, supported languages, partnerships, and how it competes with global AI giants.

Sarvam AI, an Indian artificial intelligence startup, has launched a new chat app called Indus. The company designed the app mainly for Indian users and built it to support local languages. With this move, Sarvam AI enters a market that is currently dominated by global technology companies such as OpenAI and Google. The launch marks an important step for the startup as it positions itself as a strong domestic alternative in the growing AI space.

The Indus app is currently available in beta on Android, iOS, and web platforms. It serves as the main interface for Sarvam AI’s newly announced large language models, including the Sarvam 105B model. This model contains 105 billion parameters, which allows it to understand complex questions and generate detailed responses. Earlier this week at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, the company also introduced a smaller 30B parameter model as part of its expanding AI portfolio.

Key Features and How to Use Indus Chat App

Users can interact with the Indus chat app either by typing their questions or by speaking to it. The app responds in text format and can also generate audio replies. To start using the service, users can sign in with their phone number, Google account, or Apple ID. At present, access remains largely limited to users within India as the company gradually expands its infrastructure.

Since the app is still in its early beta phase, some limitations exist. Users cannot delete individual chat conversations, and removing chat history requires deleting the entire account. The app includes a built-in reasoning feature that allows the AI to think through complex questions step by step. While this improves the quality of answers, it may result in slightly slower response times. Sarvam AI has also indicated that access may remain restricted initially as it increases its computing capacity. Co-founder Pratyush Kumar has said that the company is actively gathering user feedback to refine and improve the platform.

Growing Competition in India’s AI Market

The launch of Indus comes at a time when India has become one of the fastest-growing markets for artificial intelligence tools. OpenAI recently revealed that ChatGPT has crossed 100 million weekly users in India. In addition, India contributes nearly six percent of total global usage for Claude, the AI chatbot developed by Anthropic. This shows how quickly AI adoption is expanding across the country.

Sarvam AI aims to offer a domestic alternative that better understands Indian languages, cultural context, and regional use cases. The company has raised 41 million dollars in funding from investors including Lightspeed and Khosla Ventures to build AI models tailored for India. Beyond chat applications, Sarvam is also working with HMD to introduce AI capabilities on older Nokia feature phones. The company has partnered with Bosch as well to explore AI-powered automotive applications.

Expert View and Future Outlook

The launch of the Indus chat app represents a meaningful development for India’s technology ecosystem. While global AI models are highly advanced, they do not always capture the depth and nuance of Indian languages and local context. Sarvam AI is attempting to address this gap by building its models from the ground up with an India-first approach.

The reasoning feature within Indus reflects the company’s focus on producing thoughtful and structured answers rather than quick but shallow responses. Even though this approach may slow performance at times, it strengthens the AI’s ability to handle more complex queries. The partnerships with HMD and Bosch further indicate Sarvam’s broader vision of integrating AI into everyday devices, from mobile phones to vehicles.

At the same time, the competition remains intense. Companies like OpenAI and Google operate with vast computing resources and significant financial backing. The current waitlist and gradual rollout of Indus suggest that Sarvam is still scaling its infrastructure. For Indian users, however, Indus offers a promising “made in India” AI solution that could evolve into a more locally relevant and culturally aligned alternative to global chat platforms.

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