Tech Mahindra partners with Dell, Intel to launch Foundational LLM initiative

IT services company Tech Mahindra launched its artificial intelligence initiative Project Indus on Friday. In Beta from December 2023, Project Indus is a bid by the IT services company to primarily build its own foundational large language model (LLM) tailored for Indic languages and dialects. The company has leveraged partnerships with Dell and Intel to build this platform. 

Indus LLM will be implemented using Dell Technologies’ computing solutions, storage, and networking capabilities. Additionally, the LLM adopts Intel-based infrastructure solutions, including Intel Xeon Processors, OneAPI software, and future-generation products leveraging CPU features, to integrate the Indus model in customer’s GenAI applications. Tech Mahindra will also leverage Intel’s Gaudi AI Accelerators and AI training assets to train the future generation of Indus models and skill up its employees on Intel product portfolio (hardware and software).

Additionally, the company recently announced that it is building an LLM to preserve Bahasa Indonesia, the official and national language of Indonesia and its dialects. 

“Project Indus is our seminal effort to develop an LLM from the ground up. Through Makers Lab, our R&D arm, we created a roadmap, collected data from the Hindi-speaking population, and built the Indus model. Our collaboration with Dell Technologies & Intel will help deliver cutting-edge AI solutions that enable enterprises to scale at speed,” said Nikhil Malhotra, Global Head — Makers Lab, Tech Mahindra. The first phase of the large language model (LLM) is designed for the Hindi language and its 37+ dialects.

For Project Indus, the team has acquired data from various online sources, including critical ones like Common Crawl, along with establishing a portal called projectindus.in, where people can contribute data in their own languages through “Bhasha Daan”. For dialects that were heavily underrepresented, Tech Mahindra dispatched its teams to places like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, collecting data from the ground.