Ola Founder Bhavish Aggarwal Unveils Startup Krutrim To Cater To Indian Market’s AI Needs
Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has introduced his latest venture, Krutrim, which aims to deliver artificial intelligence (AI) solutions tailored for the Indian market. The startup has launched its Krutrim AI chatbot, capable of responding in English, Hindi, and eight other Indian languages. The larger goal of the startup is to create an AI stack that spans from semiconductor and Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) levels to Large Language Models (LLMs). Krutrim plans to make long-term investments in chip designs, cloud architecture engineering, and development of models for healthcare, drug discovery, education, agriculture, and more. The startup will also develop consumer-facing applications.
Aggarwal clarified that Krutrim is a separate entity from Ola and Ola Electric, although both companies may have investments in the startup. While he did not disclose the size of his investment, reports suggest that Krutrim had earlier secured $24 million in debt from Matrix Partners.
Krutrim’s AI chatbot, based on the Krutrim LLM, stands out by offering support for a wide range of Indian languages beyond Hindi and English. The chatbot has generative capabilities in 10 Indian languages and can process inputs in a total of 22 languages. The system has been trained on a vast dataset comprising over two trillion tokens specific to Indian languages.
Aggarwal emphasized the need for AI models to be trained on unique data sets that reflect the cultural values, context, and ethos of India. To achieve this, Krutrim incorporated a substantial representation of Indian dataset into its training. The training process was led by a team of computer scientists based in Bengaluru and San Francisco.
While the AI chatbot is currently available to select users who have signed up, more users can sign up throughout December. The public release is scheduled for January 2024, with open APIs accessible to all developers by February 2024.
Krutrim will be integrated across Ola’s group of companies, supporting various functions such as sales, service, support, and operational processes.
Looking beyond AI applications, Krutrim is actively involved in developing AI infrastructure, including indigenous data centers and advancements in server computing, edge computing, and supercomputers. Prototype development is expected by mid-2024, with plans for production release by the end of 2025.
Aggarwal expressed the importance of building technology for data centers and designing silicon chips in India. Although he did not provide specific details about the GPUs used, Aggarwal mentioned that the company possesses substantial GPU resources, which are crucial in accelerating computational processes for deep learning in AI.
Krutrim’s linguistic capabilities make it valuable for various domains, including education and business communications. The platform incorporates cutting-edge techniques in secure AI to minimize inappropriate responses.
In summary, Ola Founder Bhavish Aggarwal has launched Krutrim, a startup focused on AI solutions for the Indian market. The startup’s AI chatbot operates in multiple Indian languages and aims to develop an AI stack spanning from semiconductors to Large Language Models (LLMs). Krutrim plans to invest in chip designs, cloud architectures, and the development of models for various sectors. The chatbot is currently being tested by selected users, with a planned public release in 2024. Krutrim will be integrated across Ola’s group of companies, and the startup is also actively involved in developing AI infrastructure, including data centers and server computing advancements.
