BackTech Mahindra's Project Indus develops Indian LLM under $5 million, an alternative to ChatGPT
Tech Mahindra's CP Gurnani successfully developed Project Indus, a large-language model under $5 million. Altman's challenge sparked Gurnani's determination to showcase India's AI capabilities. The project aims to revolutionize AI communication in India and beyond.
PremiumCP Gurnani, the former CEO of Tech Mahindra, has successfully met a challenge issued by Sam Altman of OpenAI. Speaking at the fifth annual MachineCon GCC Summit in Bangalore last week, Gurnani revealed that his team developed a large-language model (LLM) in just five months for under $5 million. This project, which Gurnani announced as “Project Indus," can communicate in approximately 40 different local languages and dialects (via Newsweek).
As per the publication, Gurnani recounted the challenge posed by Altman during his visit to India last year, where Altman expressed skepticism about India's ability to compete in the LLM space. Altman’s remarks, made at an event organized by the Economic Times, implied that it would be “hopeless" for India to train foundation models with a budget of $10 million. This statement sparked a wave of determination among Indian tech leaders, leading Gurnani to take immediate action.
"I spoke to my chief innovation officer at that time, and within six hours, he had a plan," Gurnani said. "I am happy to share that we spent less than $5 million on what Sam Altman said India would never be able to deliver."
Altman later clarified his comments on social media, suggesting that while he believed a $10 million budget would be insufficient for competing with OpenAI, he encouraged startups to try and innovate in ways that have never been done before. He emphasized that the question should focus on unique contributions rather than direct competition.
Project Indus, launched by Tech Mahindra, aims to revolutionize AI communication in India by supporting a multitude of Indic languages and dialects. This initiative not only underscores India's growing capabilities in AI but also its potential to become self-reliant in technological advancements. Nikhil Malhotra, the global head of Makers Lab at Tech Mahindra, highlighted the extensive efforts involved in building the Indus model, including data collection from Hindi-speaking populations.
The project uses Dell Technologies’ "GenAI in a box" framework for simple enterprise deployment. Denise Millard of Dell Technologies emphasized the importance of accessibility and scalability in adopting AI solutions. The collaboration is expected to transform AI applications across various sectors, including healthcare, rural education, banking, finance, agriculture, and telecom.
Moreover, Tech Mahindra plans to extend Project Indus to preserve Bahasa Indonesia, Indonesia’s official language. This effort will enable people and companies to communicate in local dialects online, demonstrating the model's versatility and broader impact.
Gurnani's announcement signifies a pivotal moment in the AI race, positioning India as a formidable player in developing and deploying advanced AI technologies.
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