Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal today (15th Dec 2023) announced the launch of Krutrim, a new large language model (LLM) AI, described as 'India's own AI'.
Last fortnight, Multiple media reports claimed that Bhavish Aggarwal is developing a new AI chat app named 'Krutrim', aiming to compete with major players like OpenAI and Google.
The launch came after OpenAI teamed up with Rishi Jaitly, the former head of Twitter India, to enter the Indian market to navigate the complex landscape of Indian AI governance.
The app, introduced as Krutrim SI Designs, was registered earlier this year. Aggarwal took to social media earlier to gather ideas for the app from his followers, promising to incorporate the most interesting ones into the product roadmap. He even offered a free Ola S1X+ scooter for the best idea.
Announcing the launch
The project was unveiled in Bengaluru, where both Ola and Krutrim Si Designs are based. Krutrim, meaning 'artificial' in Sanskrit, is designed to understand and generate content in multiple Indian languages, marking a significant step in AI development tailored to India's unique linguistic landscape.
Krutrim's unique features and capabilities
Krutrim stands out with its ability to understand 20 Indian languages and generate content in 10 of these, including Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Odiya, and Telugu. It uses a custom tokenizer to interpret these languages and scripts and has been trained on over 2 trillion tokens.
The model has shown superior performance on various global LLM evaluation benchmarks. Additionally, Krutrim can process voice inputs and respond in voice, offering an interactive experience.
The Krutrim family: base and pro models
The Krutrim family includes two models: the base Krutrim model and the more advanced Krutrim Pro. The base model is already introduced and will be available from next month, while Krutrim Pro, designed for more complex problem-solving and task execution, will be released early next year. Krutrim Pro is expected to have multimodal, larger knowledge capabilities and other technical advancements.
Aims to contribute towards AI-first economy
Aggarwal emphasized the importance of Krutrim in making India a global leader in AI. He highlighted the need for AI models that understand the cultural values, context, and ethos unique to India's multicultural and multilingual society. Krutrim aims to contribute significantly to India's journey towards an AI-first economy, improving labor and capital productivity, and establishing India as a global knowledge centre.
Focusing on developing silicon chips
Krutrim Si Designs is not just focusing on the AI model but also on developing cutting-edge silicon chips, robust cloud infrastructure, and creating AI models tailored to the Indian context. Prototypes are expected by mid-2024, with a rollout by the end of 2025.
Currently, the Krutrim AI model website is live for users to register their interest, and the base LLM will be accessible to everyone starting next month, with APIs available in February of the following year. Krutrim Pro is slated for release in Q4 of FY24.
