Should Sarvam AI open-source its models after getting government support?

The startup will reportedly receive support equivalent of Rs 220 crore to build an indigenous foundational large language model.

Last week, India’s information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the government has picked Bengaluru-based Sarvam AI to build the country’s first homegrown artificial intelligence foundational model. The startup is expected to receive the equivalent of Rs 220 crore from the government. Given that taxpayers’ money is being involved, wouldn’t it be fair to ask Sarvam to open-source the model? 

“So you’re telling me that Deepseek with private funds can release an open source model, but govt awarding Rs 220 crores of public funds to Sarvam isn’t asking for the same? This is tax payers money, so the full pipeline ought …