Sarvam AI Launches Bulbul, Advances India's Voice and Language AI Capabilities
Sarvam AI has launched Bulbul, a new speech model designed to deliver natural-sounding voice interactions across 11 Indian languages. The model features region-specific accents, aiming to offer authentic, conversational responses instead of the robotic tones typical of conventional text-to-speech systems.
According to the company, Bulbul supports custom brand voices and delivers low-latency performance, with applications ranging from customer support and media to enterprise automation. The first version of the model, Bulbul v1, debuted in August 2024 with six distinct voices to meet diverse industry needs.
Also read: Sarvam Selected to Build India’s First Indigenous AI Large Language Model
Part of India’s Sovereign AI Push
In parallel, Sarvam AI has been selected by the Government of India under the IndiaAI Mission to develop a sovereign large language model (LLM). The planned 70-billion parameter model will support Indian languages and English, and is being optimised for voice-first use cases, contextual reasoning, and secure, large-scale deployment.
The firm recently demonstrated its multi-language strength by localizing an episode of a Lex Fridman podcast that had Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the guest in nine Indian languages. The effort comes in line with the government's Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) vision to develop indigenous technology.
Established by AI and Infrastructure Veterans
Sarvam AI was established in 2023 by Dr. Vivek Raghavan and Dr. Pratyush Kumar, both of whom have extensive experience in AI research, digital systems at a national scale, and public technology infrastructure. The company is headquartered in Bengaluru and is backed by investors like Lightspeed, Peak XV Partners, and Khosla Ventures.
It is also receiving compute resources from the Indian government to support the ground-up development of its sovereign LLM. Sarvam AI describes its work as combining academic expertise with practical, scalable solutions tailored to India’s linguistic and digital diversity.
