Microsoft Partners with India's Sarvam AI for Voice-based GenAI Tools

FILE PHOTO: Microsoft logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Microsoft logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
TT

Microsoft Partners with India's Sarvam AI for Voice-based GenAI Tools

FILE PHOTO: Microsoft logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Microsoft logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

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.

Sarvam AI is building genAI models targeting Indic languages and context, it said in a statement, but did not immediately provide financial details of the partnership.

The startup - whose founders earlier developed AI models at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras-based research group AI4Bharat - has raised funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Peak XV Partners and Khosla Ventures.

Through the partnership, Sarvam will make its Indic voice LLMs available on Microsoft's cloud platform Azure.



Google to Open Second Data Center in Latin America, to Invest Over $850 Mln 

The president of Google Cloud for Latin America, Eduardo Lopez, participates in the inauguration of the Google Data Center works, on the premises of the Science Park, in Canelones, Uruguay 29 August 2024. (EPA)
The president of Google Cloud for Latin America, Eduardo Lopez, participates in the inauguration of the Google Data Center works, on the premises of the Science Park, in Canelones, Uruguay 29 August 2024. (EPA)
TT

Google to Open Second Data Center in Latin America, to Invest Over $850 Mln 

The president of Google Cloud for Latin America, Eduardo Lopez, participates in the inauguration of the Google Data Center works, on the premises of the Science Park, in Canelones, Uruguay 29 August 2024. (EPA)
The president of Google Cloud for Latin America, Eduardo Lopez, participates in the inauguration of the Google Data Center works, on the premises of the Science Park, in Canelones, Uruguay 29 August 2024. (EPA)

Alphabet's Google said on Thursday it will open its second data center in Latin America in the Uruguayan city of Canelones and invest more than $850 million in it.

Google opened its first data center in Latin America in Quilicura, which is near Santiago, the capital city of Chile, in 2015. It invested an initial amount of $150 million in the data center and spent an additional $140 million in 2018 for expansion.

"We hope our new data center in Canelones will be a significant contribution to the professional and technological development of Uruguay and the entire region," Google said in a blog post.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Google is considering building a "hyperscale" data center close to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and that the center would be ready in 2027.

In April, Google announced a $3 billion investment to set up a data center campus in Indiana and expand sites in Virginia. Google also said in May that it will invest $2 billion in Malaysia to develop its first data center and Google Cloud region in the country.