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Mint
17-06-2025
- Business
- Mint
Sarvam, India's most-funded gen-AI startup, takes to the Big Tech playbook
Shouvik Das Amid government subsidies, Sarvam will focus on a full-stack AI approach to take its business to clients; more announcements are expected from the startup in the coming weeks. A person passes a billboard for an Artificial Intelligence company advertising AI employees on a London underground station platform in London, Britain, June 5, 2025. REUTERS/Chris J. Ratcliffe Gift this article Bengaluru: On 26 April, IIT Madras-incubated artificial intelligence startup, Sarvam, became the first to receive subsidized access to processing chips from the Union government to build Indian AI models. Now, after facing conjecture and criticism over government support and the startup's innovation route, its founder and investors believe that the way forward for India's most well-funded AI startup is to take a leaf out of the Big Tech playbook. Bengaluru: On 26 April, IIT Madras-incubated artificial intelligence startup, Sarvam, became the first to receive subsidized access to processing chips from the Union government to build Indian AI models. Now, after facing conjecture and criticism over government support and the startup's innovation route, its founder and investors believe that the way forward for India's most well-funded AI startup is to take a leaf out of the Big Tech playbook. 'We're not just a model builder," Pratyush Kumar, co-founder of Sarvam, told Mint on the sidelines of a gathering in Bengaluru last week. 'We have an application layer too, and we want to be focused on both (the model and the layer)." The startup has faced criticism after it last month released its AI model—Sarvam-M. While some hailed the 24-billion-parameter model for its native support for 10 Indian languages, others criticised it for not being a foundational model, but being based on a foundational model made by a French AI startup, Mistral. Also Read: How tech is transforming the Indian car market Kumar and his investors, however, do not believe that the criticism has been fair. 'It's hard to quantify how much of our efforts we are devoting to foundational models versus building applications—the models will be key because this will give us the foundational capability. The government funding is just incidental, but it will not define the way forward for Sarvam. Eventually, we're building a full-stack, deep-tech firm out of India," he said. To be sure, a foundational model is an algorithm built by a company from scratch, using its own data and AI infrastructure. Doing so requires significantly high amounts of capital—US Big Tech firms are currently spending billions on them—but also gives companies the advantage of having proprietary technology without being reliant on anyone else. Monetising tech An application layer, meanwhile, is key to ensuring that the models can be implemented within businesses, thus earning ventures commercial revenue. While this is secondary, it is key to monetisation. Big Tech firms, such as Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI, are making what Kumar cited above as 'full-stack" services—having their own models and applications to sell to enterprises. It is this that Kumar highlighted as Sarvam's key area of focus, and not its government backing for subsidised access to processing chips—which account for most of an AI firm's operating expenditure. 'The government's Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) grant helps, but it is only an episode for us. This is not what will fully define our way forward. We're continuing to build and innovate in various sectors of AI, which will create value by leveraging the support that the government has extended. We're building applications for Indian clients, and not just models or applications to sell abroad," Kumar said. Among its peers, investors and industry experts believe that Sarvam has a clear headstart. While Olacabs founder Bhavish Aggarwal's AI pivot, Krutrim, claimed to have become 'India's first AI unicorn" in January last year, the venture doesn't have much to show yet. 'Sarvam always had an aspiration of building population-scale AI. The goal is to scale up AI innovation to the entire Indian population, not to have the largest foundation model," said Harshjit Sethi, managing director at venture capital firm Peak XV. Peak XV led Sarvam's seed funding round, and also co-led the startup's $41-million series-A funding round in December 2023. The venture has raised $53 million in total funding so far, though Kumar said that it will 'definitely need a larger funding round" in the coming months. Also Read: Eye in the sky: India to set up satellites to spy on satellites Peak XV's Sethi underlined that the criticisms of Sarvam may not be accurate. 'Sarvam is already working with some of the largest Indian companies, and has already reached tens of millions of individuals who have used Sarvam's AI applications and models. The goal is bearing fruit, and we're seeing their impact already." Use of funds As a result, both Kumar and Sethi said that the public expectation that Sarvam is only building a 'sovereign' AI model for public utilities and government applications is misplaced. 'The government grant comes from public taxpayers' money, but the one thing to clarify is that this is not a grant, the Centre is making an investment in the company in exchange for a minority equity stake. As a shareholder, the return to the taxpayer will come from the appreciation of this equity stake, in addition to the strategic imperative that we, as India, should have our own AI models from scratch," Sethi said. Kashyap Kompella, author and AI consultant to large corporations, concurred. 'The entire criticism that Sarvam has faced is that it has the government's backing from public taxpayers' money, but its mission statement is not narrowly focused on building only India's sovereign AI. That comes across as unfair criticism because innovation cannot be restricted only to one area. Entities like Sarvam must therefore focus on gaps in the ecosystem that are not addressed by competitors such as Big Tech firms," he said. Also Read: Apple quietly opens AI gates to developers at WWDC 2025 To be sure, FY25 was the first full fiscal year for Sarvam as a commercial entity earning early-stage revenue from clients. The company is yet to file its financials for the previous fiscal. For now, Sethi said the startup is likely to make more product announcements 'in the coming weeks." 'There are no specific verticals that we're focusing on, and we're looking at technology and services quite horizontally, just like Big Tech ventures. Eventually, we'll work with partners in sectors to build domain-specific capabilities in AI applications and services," Kumar added. Topics You May Be Interested In
Straits Times
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
King Charles and royals gather for military parade to mark VE Day anniversary
Military personnel relax at Wellington Barracks after taking part in the rehearsals for the VE Day 80th anniversary procession in the early hours of the morning in London, Britain May 03, 2025. REUTERS/Chris J. Ratcliffe Military personnel relax at Wellington Barracks after taking part in the rehearsals for the VE Day 80th anniversary procession in the early hours of the morning in London, Britain May 03, 2025. REUTERS/Chris J. Ratcliffe A Ukrainian military unit takes part in the rehearsals of the VE Day 80th anniversary procession in the early hours of the morning in London, Britain May 3, 2025. REUTERS/Chris J. Ratcliffe Military personnel hang their uniforms in the back of a truck at Wellington Barracks, after taking part in the rehearsals for the VE Day 80th anniversary procession in the early hours of the morning in London, Britain May 03, 2025. REUTERS/Chris J. Ratcliffe Military units enter Wellington Barracks after taking part in the rehearsals for the VE Day 80th anniversary procession in the early hours of the morning in London, Britain May 03, 2025. REUTERS/Chris J. Ratcliffe LONDON - Britain's King Charles and senior royals will join veterans and crowds to watch a grand military parade and flypast at the start of four days of commemorations to mark the 80th anniversary of "VE Day" - the end of fighting in Europe in World War Two. The unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany came into force on May 8, 1945, known as Victory in Europe Day, and the British government has planned a series of events to mark the anniversary. These will begin on Monday when London's famous Big Ben clock strikes midday and extracts from British war leader Winston Churchill's VE Day speech will be read out. More than 1,300 members of Britain's armed forces will then process through central London from outside parliament to Buckingham Palace, watched by the king, Queen Camilla, Prince William and his wife Kate along with Prime Minister Keir Starmer and veterans of the conflict. Ukrainian armed forces will also take part to show Britain's support for its war against Russia. As the procession concludes, there will be a flypast by historic military aircraft and the Royal Air Force's Red Arrows aerobatics display team, watched by the royals from the balcony of Buckingham palace. The royals will then host about 50 veterans and others who lived through the war for a tea party inside the palace. 'This 80th anniversary is a moment of national unity. A time to celebrate that hard-won peace, honour the memory of those who lost their lives, and remember the sacrifices made by so many to secure our freedom," said Starmer. In 1945, VE Day was greeted by wild celebrations in London and across Britain. The late Queen Elizabeth, then a 19-year-old princess, and her younger sister Margaret famously slipped out to join the throng outside Buckingham Palace, believed to be the only time during her 96 years she mingled with the public unrecognised. "We cheered the king and queen on the balcony and then walked miles through the streets," Elizabeth later recalled. "I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief ... I think it was one of the most memorable nights of my life." On Thursday, the actual 80th anniversary, the royal family will attend a service of thanksgiving at London's Westminster Abbey during which Starmer will give a reading. Government buildings will also observe a two-minute national silence at midday, and the commemorations will conclude with a concert in front of the king and queen. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
25-04-2025
- Business
- The Star
Workers could save 122 hours a year by adopting AI in admin tasks, says Google
Workers make their way about the City of London on a cold and sunny day in London, Britain, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Chris J. Ratcliffe LONDON (Reuters) -Britain could gain 400 billion pounds ($533 billion) from AI-driven growth if it trained its workforce, Google said, after a pilot scheme in the UK showed workers could save more than 120 hours a year by using AI in administrative tasks. Simple steps such as giving workers permission to use AI and a few hours of training to get them started could help double the adoption of the new technology, and in turn boost economic growth, Google said in a report on its pilot scheme, published on Friday. The U.S. tech giant, which developed the Gemini AI chatbot, said that according to analysis by Public First, its partner in the scheme, two thirds of workers - particularly older women from lower socio-economic backgrounds - had never used generative AI at work. Debbie Weinstein, Google's Europe, Middle East and Africa president, said the AI Works pilots - conducted in a small business network, educational trusts and a union - showed workers could save on average 122 hours a year by using AI in administrative tasks. But one barrier stopping some from dipping a toe into the water was a concern that using AI in their job was not legitimate nor fair. "People wanted 'permission to prompt'", Weinstein said in an interview. "'Is it okay for me to be doing this?' And so giving them that reassurance was really important." Once they started, a few hours of AI training to build their confidence resulted in them using the technology twice as much, she said, and they were still using it several months later. These simple interventions helped to narrow the AI adoption gap amongst the participants in the pilot studies, Google said in its AI Works report. Before training, for example, only 17% of women aged above 55 in its cohorts used AI weekly and only 9% daily. Three months later, 56% were using it weekly and 29% had made it a daily habit. ($1 = 0.7509 pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Susan Fenton)
Forbes
16-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
WH Smith Shares Rise As Travel Sales Rise 12%
Photographer: Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg Shares in WH Smith dropped on Wednesday despite the retailer reporting strong first-half trading within its Travel division. At 922.5p per share, the FTSE 250 business was last dealing 3% lower in midweek trade. Ongoing strength at Travel meant group revenues rose 3% in the six months to 28 February, to £951 million. Growth was 4% on a constant currencies basis. Sales at its core division – which has stores in airports, rail stations and other transport hubs in 32 countries – rose 6% to £712 million, or 8% at stable currencies. Meanwhile, High Street revenues dipped 7% to £239 million. Trading profit at Travel rose 12% year on year, to £56 million, but across its High Street stores this plummeted 32% to £15 million. As a consequence, group trading profit dipped to £71 million from £72 million previously. Stripping out one-off items, profit before tax also dipped by £1 million, to £45 million. The interim dividend rose to 11.3p per share from 11p last time out. Sales at WH Smith's UK travel stores rose 7% in the first half, while in the US revenues were up 3%. Sales in its other international stores increased 11%. The retailer generated just over half (54%) of revenues from its UK travel outlets in the first half. International expansion is front and centre of its growth plans, and it cut the ribbon on 26 new North America stores in the first half. WH Smith plans to open 60 new stores globally this year, which will leave it with 10 net new stores after the planned closure of some 50 underperforming sites. Its new outlet pipeline comprises of some 90 bases, of which 70 are in North America. Chief executive Carl Cowling commented that 'the group has had a good first half with consistent like-for-like growth across all our Travel businesses, and we are well-positioned for the peak summer trading period.' He said that WH Smith's second half had 'started well," noting that 'we remain on track to deliver full year results in line with market expectations.' Cowling added that 'we are mindful of the increased level of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, however given the resilient nature of our business, we are well-positioned to benefit from the growth opportunities in global travel retail.' Russell Pointon, analyst at Edison, commented that WH Smith's interims 'reflect continued momentum in global travel retail, supported by recovering passenger volumes and structural shifts in consumer behaviour at transport hubs.' He added that 'the strength of the Travel division highlights the company's strategic alignment with long-term trends in international mobility and airport infrastructure investment.' The FTSE 250 firm found a buyer for its beleaguered High Street unit last month after putting it on the chopping block in January. Its 480 stores will be acquired by Modella Capital for £76 million as WH Smith continues its pivot towards travel hubs. Pointon said that 'looking ahead, [key areas] include progress in executing the North American growth strategy, the scalability of the one-stop-shop format across geographies, and the group's ability to maintain margins and cash generation against a tricky geopolitical background.' He noted that rising concerns over potential recession could impact travel demand, while adverse currency movements may also remain an issue for the company.
