India's push to build indigenous artificial intelligence models has received a boost with startup Avataar.ai launching Varya AI, a government-backed video generation model that it claims is significantly faster and cheaper than leading Chinese alternatives. Speaking to NDTV Profit, Avataar.ai Founder Sravanth Alluru said Varya AI is the first indigenous AI video model developed under the IndiaAI Mission and is capable of generating high-quality video content within minutes.
According to the company, the model is 27 times faster and cheaper than some of the leading Chinese video-generation models currently available in the market. Alluru said Varya AI outperforms Alibaba's Wan model across multiple benchmarks while delivering comparable video quality. The company said lower operating costs could help expand adoption among enterprises and content creators, allowing it to target a larger market both in India and overseas.
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Avataar.ai is among a select group of startups chosen under the IndiaAI Mission to develop indigenous foundation AI models as India seeks to reduce dependence on foreign AI platforms and build domestic capabilities. The company has also built regulatory safeguards into the model, including restrictions on generating NSFW content, watermarking of AI-generated videos and content labelling features aligned with emerging government requirements on synthetic media.
While India has largely been seen as an adopter rather than a creator of frontier AI models, Alluru said the goal is to build products not just for domestic users but for global markets as well. "We are building for India and the world," he said, adding that the Prime Minister had encouraged startups supported under the IndiaAI Mission to develop globally competitive products. The launch comes amid intensifying competition in generative AI, with countries racing to develop sovereign AI capabilities across text, image and video-generation technologies.
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