Microsoft collaborates with Indian startup Sarvam AI for voice tools

Microsoft has revealed its collaboration with Indian startup Sarvam AI to facilitate the advancement of voice-based generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The announcement was made during CEO Satya Nadella's three-day visit, emphasizing the company's efforts to increase the use of its products in India, the fastest-growing major economy. As part of this initiative, Nadella aims to offer AI skilling opportunities to 2 million Indians by 2025.

Sarvam AI, known for its focus on developing generative AI models tailored for Indic languages and context, is set to construct its solutions using Microsoft's cloud services, including Azure OpenAI Service, as stated by Microsoft. The startup, founded by individuals who previously worked on AI models at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras-based research group AI4Bharat, has successfully secured $41 million in a series A funding round from investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners, Peak XV Partners, and Khosla Ventures.

Voice AI, a subset of conversational AI, specializes in replicating human-like voice interactions with customers. This technology empowers businesses to grant customers the flexibility of using voice commands for instructions and inquiries. Operating akin to a genuine two-way human conversation, Voice AI functions in a manner where a sender encodes and transmits a message, and a receiver receives and decodes it, similarly occurring between a voice bot and a human. When coupled with automation, the integration of Voice AI creates a highly efficient voice bot capable of addressing nearly all customer queries with logical responses. Essentially, Voice AI serves as the cognitive component for a voice bot.