In a significant move towards fostering homegrown artificial intelligence (AI) technology in India, the BharatGPT group, supported by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries and premier engineering institutions across the nation, is gearing up to unveil its maiden ChatGPT-style service next month.
This innovative model, named 'Hanooman', is a result of collaboration with various Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campuses, notably IIT Bombay, bolstered by Reliance Jio Infocomm and the central government. During a recent technology conference in Mumbai, the consortium, comprising Reliance and eight affiliated universities, provided a glimpse of 'Hanooman'. The demonstration showcased interactions in multiple local languages such as Tamil and Hindi, covering diverse fields like healthcare, governance, financial services, and education. Notably, a motorcycle mechanic, a banker, and a developer from Hyderabad engaged with the AI bot, highlighting its versatility.
'Hanooman' is poised to revolutionize accessibility with its speech-to-text capabilities, enhancing user-friendliness. Ganesh Ramakrishnan, chair of IIT Bombay’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering, emphasized its potential during the Nasscom IT industry conference, stating it would operate in 11 local languages across the designated sectors.
While Reliance takes the lead with 'Hanooman', it's noteworthy that other startups like Sarvam and Krutrim, supported by prominent VC investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners and Vinod Khosla’s fund, are also venturing into open-sourced AI models tailored for India.
Looking ahead, Reliance Jio aims to develop custom models catering to specific requirements. The conglomerate is already in the process of rolling out 'Jio Brain', an AI platform designed to serve its vast network of approximately 450 million subscribers.
In essence, 'Hanooman' represents the latest stride in the realm of Language Learning Models (LLMs), which leverage generative AI, marking a significant advancement in India’s AI landscape.
