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Partnership · 27 October 2026Sarvam AIIndian AI model buildersarvam.ai ↗

Sarvam signs five-year defence AI pact

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PartnershipAI & Deep TechBengaluruFounded 2023
  • Sarvam is an Indian AI startup that builds homegrown AI models and applications for use inside the country
  • It signed a five-year agreement with the defence ministry's integrated staff HQ to create AI tools for the army, navy and air force
  • Work covers decision support and data fusion on sovereign infrastructure with humans in charge; the deal value was not shared

What happened

  • Sarvam signed a five-year MoU (memorandum of understanding) with HQ IDS.
  • It sets a shared framework for AI projects across the three Services.
  • Sarvam will design, build and deploy AI for operations, training and decision support.
  • Systems will run on sovereign infrastructure.

Why it matters

  • India wants its own AI in defence systems.
  • Human oversight stays over operational decisions.
  • It fits the government push for self-reliance.

The business

  • Sarvam builds AI models and applications in India.
  • Co-founder Pratyush Kumar says the mission is AI built in India, for India.

The founders

PK

Pratyush Kumar

Co-founder
in
  • Founded AI4Bharat
  • Previously at Microsoft Research
VR

Vivek Raghavan

Co-founder
in

What happens next

  • Individual projects to be defined

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Terms in this story

  • Startup: A startup is a young company built to find a new way of doing something and to grow fast, usually by serving many customers at low extra cost. India's government also has a narrower legal definition that decides who gets scheme benefits.

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