BENGALURU (Reuters) -Microsoft will support the development of voice-based generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications through a partnership with Indian startup Sarvam AI, the Windows-maker said on Thursday.
The partnership was announced during CEO Satya Nadella's three-day visit as the company pushes for wider adoption of its products by consumers in India, the fastest-growing major economy.
On Wednesday, Nadella had announced an initiative to provide 2 million Indians with AI skilling opportunities by 2025.
Sarvam AI is building genAI models targeting Indic languages and context, and will now create its solutions on Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)'s cloud services including Azure OpenAI Service, Microsoft said in a statement.
The startup - whose founders earlier developed AI models at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras-based research group AI4Bharat - has raised $41 million in a series A funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Peak XV Partners and Khosla Ventures.