Indian AI startup Sarvam just made its boldest move yet in the battle between open and closed artificial intelligence. The Bangalore-based lab unveiled a suite of open-source models - including a massive 105-billion parameter flagship - that directly challenges the closed-source approach dominating the AI industry. The launch signals India's growing ambitions to become a major player in the global AI race, with models specifically optimized for the country's linguistic and cultural complexity.
Sarvam AI just threw down the gauntlet in the open-source versus closed-source AI debate. The Indian artificial intelligence lab unveiled a comprehensive lineup of foundation models at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, headlined by a 105-billion parameter behemoth that rivals models from much larger, better-funded Western competitors.
The release includes two core language models - Sarvam 30B and Sarvam 105B - alongside specialized multimodal capabilities: a text-to-speech system, a speech-to-text transcription model, and a vision model designed specifically for parsing documents in Indian languages. It's an ambitious technical bet that open-source infrastructure can power India's AI transformation without relying on proprietary systems from OpenAI or Anthropic.
What makes this launch particularly significant isn't just the model sizes - it's the timing and strategic positioning. While Western AI labs have largely pivoted toward increasingly closed development practices, citing safety concerns and competitive pressures, Sarvam is doubling down on transparency and accessibility. The company's approach mirrors the philosophy that propelled Meta's Llama models to widespread adoption, but with a laser focus on India's unique linguistic landscape.
India's AI ecosystem has been heating up rapidly. The country's massive developer community and relatively lower compute costs have made it an attractive testing ground for open-source AI alternatives. Google recently announced expanded AI infrastructure investments in India, while Microsoft has been quietly building partnerships with Indian enterprises hungry for AI capabilities that work with Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and dozens of other regional languages.
