Defence Ministry arm, Sarvam sign pact for tri-service AI projects

Indian AI firm Sarvam signed an MoU with Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff to develop AI applications for the Army, Navy and Air Force. The partnership focuses on operational support, training, decision-making, sovereign AI infrastructure and strengthening self-reliance in defence technology

New Delhi: AI firm Sarvam on Tuesday said that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS) — under the Defence Ministry — for AI projects across the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force.

The framework also extends to the joint, tri-service and integrated organisations under HQ IDS, it said. Under the pact, Sarvam will design, develop and deploy AI applications for operational, training and decision-support requirements of the three services and provide follow-on technical support. However, work under the agreement spans several projects across all three services, with HQ IDS facilitating the engagement.

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The agreement is a step in the government’s drive towards Atmanirbharta in defence and indigenisation of defence equipment and capability. That imperative now extends to artificial intelligence which is becoming as consequential to military capability as the platforms it runs on.

Through the pact, the three services and joint organisations gain access to the same foundation models, agentic infrastructure and geospatial and perception systems. Doctrine and lessons learnt from one service’s projects can then feed the next.

In addition, the MoU advances the Ministry of Defence’s direction on military AI with focus areas including decision support, target acquisition and data fusion across the sensor-to-shooter loop with human oversight retained on operational decisions, so that the AI layer is built in India and deployed on sovereign infrastructure.

“Sarvam exists to build AI in India, for India. To work with the three Services on the nation’s defence is an honour and a privilege. We are grateful to HQ IDS for its trust,” said Pratyush Kumar, Co-founder, Sarvam.

The work will be carried out by Chanakya — Sarvam’s firewalled division focused on national security and defence — which will apply it’s AI stack, including foundation models such as Sarvam 105B.