India’s artificial intelligence race is no longer just about using AI—it is increasingly about building it. Bengaluru-based startup Sarvam AI has taken a major step in that direction with the launch of Epoch Builder Edition, a new platform that enables developers, enterprises, researchers, and government organizations to build, fine-tune, and deploy large language models (LLMs) specifically designed for India’s diverse languages and unique use cases.
As countries around the world invest heavily in sovereign AI capabilities, Sarvam AI’s latest offering signals India’s growing ambition to create world-class AI infrastructure that is built in India, for India, with the potential to compete globally.
Credits: The Hans India
Building AI That Speaks India’s Languages
One of the biggest challenges in artificial intelligence has been the lack of strong support for regional languages. While global AI models perform exceptionally well in English, they often struggle with India’s linguistic diversity, regional dialects, and code-mixed conversations.
Sarvam AI hopes to change that with two new multilingual foundation models featuring 7-billion and 70-billion parameters. Trained on an impressive two trillion tokens, these models support more than ten Indian languages, including Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Marathi, and Bengali.
The company has also focused on improving AI performance for code-mixed languages such as Hinglish and Kannanglish—communication styles that millions of Indians use every day across social media, messaging apps, and workplaces. This makes the platform particularly valuable for businesses looking to develop AI assistants that understand how Indians naturally communicate.
More Than Just an AI Model
Unlike companies that simply offer ready-made AI models, Sarvam AI is positioning Epoch Builder Edition as a complete AI development platform.
Developers receive access to powerful GPU clusters for distributed training, reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF), instruction tuning, deployment tools, APIs, and flexible on-premises deployment options. This allows organizations to create AI systems using their own proprietary data while maintaining greater control over privacy and security.
For industries such as banking, healthcare, finance, and government, where sensitive information cannot always leave internal systems, on-premises deployment offers a significant advantage over cloud-only AI services.
Built for Indian Enterprises
Another standout feature of the platform is its collection of curated datasets designed specifically for Indian applications.
Instead of relying solely on publicly available internet data, Sarvam AI has assembled specialized datasets covering Indian law, governance, finance, and vernacular content. This enables organizations to build AI systems that better understand local regulations, public policies, financial terminology, and regional contexts.
The platform also includes safety-focused features such as red-teaming tools, toxicity detection, and benchmarking methods tailored to India’s cultural and linguistic diversity. These capabilities help developers identify harmful outputs and improve the reliability of AI systems before deployment.
A Push for India’s AI Independence
Speaking during the launch, Sarvam AI Co-founder Pratyush Kumar emphasized the importance of developing India’s own AI capabilities rather than depending entirely on foreign technology providers.
He noted that India has already demonstrated its ability to build globally successful technology companies and believes the same can happen in artificial intelligence. His remarks reflect a broader trend where countries are investing in sovereign AI infrastructure to ensure strategic independence while addressing local needs more effectively.
This vision aligns with India’s growing investments in AI research, semiconductor manufacturing, digital public infrastructure, and indigenous technology development.
Partnerships Beyond the Private Sector
Sarvam AI is not limiting its ambitions to commercial enterprises.
The company announced partnerships with three Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and two state governments to pilot AI applications in education and public service delivery. These collaborations could pave the way for AI-powered multilingual learning tools, citizen services, digital governance platforms, and more accessible public information systems.
By working closely with academic institutions and governments, Sarvam AI hopes to accelerate real-world adoption while generating valuable feedback to improve its models further.
Credits: WEXT India
Looking Ahead
Epoch Builder Edition will enter private preview in August 2026, with a broader public launch expected during the fourth quarter of the year. While competition in the AI infrastructure space remains intense, Sarvam AI’s focus on Indian languages, enterprise deployment, and localized datasets gives it a distinct position in the market.
As AI becomes a critical technology shaping economies and industries, platforms like Epoch Builder Edition could help ensure that India’s digital future is built on technologies designed around its own languages, cultures, and business needs rather than adaptations of models developed elsewhere.
If successful, Sarvam AI may not only strengthen India’s AI ecosystem but also demonstrate that globally competitive foundation models can emerge from India for users around the world.
