India's ChatGPT rival BharatGPT launched: All you want to know

India has finally launched its much-awaited Large Language Model (LLM)-based solution BharatGPT, as an answer to OpenAI’s ChatGPT which has already taken the world by storm. 
BharatGPT, created by CoRover.ai, an AI startup, in collaboration with I-HUB Anubhuti, a data-driven cognitive computing solutions provider, is Indian Indigenous Generative AI platform available across channels in over a dozen Indian languages, in video, voice and text, something the company hails as the ‘first time’ in the history of AI. Here’s what we should know about the homegrown conversational AI chatbot. 

How does BharatGPT work? 
According to Ankush Sabharwal, Cofounder and CEO of Bengaluru-based CoRover.ai, “developers and business users can create text and voice enabled multi-lingual Virtual Assistant in a few seconds by adding the content or documents specific to their business and/or use cases”.  
He also noted the benefits of the conversational AI platform include the fact that the data remains in India. It also has an option to add custom knowledge base and can be integrated with any enterprise resource planning (ERP) or customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for real-time transactions.  
The homegrown conversational AI startup’s Bharat GPT has many additional features and should be considered as EnterpriseGPT. Idea is to implement a responsible AI with generative capabilities, with better Governance and Safety Net, along with informational and end-to-end transactional capabilities, for various organizations. 

How is it going to benefit the enterprise?  

BharatGPT, currently available in 14 Indian languages, with generative text, voice and videos, has been positioned as an enterprise conversation AI platform. 
“We ensure that sensitive information is handled with care, as data remains in India,” Sabharwal said, adding that the chatbot is built in-line with the current government vision of “Make AI in India, Make AI work for India”.  
In that sense, it uses computing resources through a multi-layered NLP approach, encompassing NLU, NLG, Deep Learning with Generative AI (unsupervised), supervised learning, AIML, and context-based autosuggestion for diverse user query handling. 
“BharatGPT, being a light-weight solution, ensures that implementation is swift and efficient. This not only saves valuable time for organizations but also contributes to a seamless integration process,” said Pushpendra Singh, professor, CSE IIITD, project director, iHub Anubhuti IIITD Foundation. 
The platform has an inbuilt payment gateway for real-time transactions. It is Omni-channel, multi-lingual (with a capacity of including 120+ languages), multi-format (text, voice, video) and has generative AI Video, interactive digital twin. 

How is it different from ChatGPT and other Indic chatbots?  
The existing platforms with LLM(s) are not capable enough, to create Enterprise Virtual Assistants (ChatBots, VoiceBots, VideoBots). A Conversational AI platform also requires other components, such as user interface; a management system, integration with other systems and data sources and voice and video capabilities, to create Virtual Assistants. That has made it a frontrunner in Generative AI/Large Language Models, addressing challenges in computational requirements, data quality, biases, and security. 

What is the way forward?  
The way forward is to implement a responsible AI with generative capabilities, with better governance and safety net, along with informational and end-to-end transactional capabilities, for various organizations. 

What are its applications? 
Some of the areas of BharatGPT implementations include taxation, healthcare, media, tourism, railways, or any logistics, telecom, education, legal, space, energy, banking and more. It can also be customised for each state, such as KarnatakaGPT, GujaratGPT, J&KGPT, etc., Sabharwal said. He added that eventually, there will be consumer (B2C) ChatBots powered by BharatGPT in sectors like banking, insurance, retail, agriculture, Government and more. 

What is the funding model like? 
CoRover.ai, the creator of BharatGPT has not commented on the chatbot’s funding model. However, according to an Economic Times report published last week, Google had already invested $500,000 in Corover after signing a pact with the startup earlier this year and is now considering another $4 million investment in equity following the official launch of BharatGPT in the coming weeks. Google acts as a strategic partner to Corover and supports it with credit to access cloud computing, sources told the news site. Other than Google, the startup is backed by the likes of CanBank Venture Capital Fund, Lead Angels, Cognify, Karekeba Ventures, and IIIT-Delhi.