New Delhi, February 17 Sovereign AI has the potential to reach the next level if it is used on a large scale, but the free services offered by global companies pose a challenge, said Vivek Raghavan, founder of domestic AI firm Sarvam, on Tuesday.
Sovereign AI is an AI platform developed in-house, using its own datasets, which enables nations to reduce their reliance on foreign technology firms and protect their national interests.
Notably, OpenAI is offering free access to ChatGPT, while Reliance Jio, in partnership with Google, is offering free access to the AI platform Gemini.
Speaking at a session at the AI Impact Summit here, Raghavan said, "We are going to release some models that are world-class in their category. We have been doing this over the past few weeks, and we hope to do more. However, I believe the key is that these models can only reach the next level when they are used on a large scale."
He observed that one of the challenges is that Sarvam AI is competing with free models.
"In the real world, nothing is free. So, if all the cutting-edge models are available for free in any other industry, it would probably be called dumping. But here, we need to figure out how to address that," Raghavan said.
He said that the US and China are far ahead of India, and that is a fact "that we need to accept."
The Sarvam AI founder said that India needs to decide whether it wants to become a digital colony or join the nations that own AI technology.
He emphasized the importance of ensuring that Indian models are used on a large scale.