New Delhi, Oct. 28 -- Bengaluru-based Sarvam has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS), Ministry of Defence, to work together on artificial intelligence (AI) projects across the army, navy and air force. The company announced the agreement in a press release on Tuesday. The five-year MoU sets up an umbrella framework for AI projects across the three Services. It also covers the joint, tri-service and integrated organisations that come under HQ IDS. The areas of collaboration include AI applications, research, knowledge management, training and decision support. HQ IDS described the agreement as a significant step towards strengthening sovereign AI capabilities for India's defence forces. "The partnership will focus on building secure, sovereign and scalable AI capabilities, with strong emphasis on data sovereignty and ensuring responsible AI-based solutions," it said in a post on X. Under the MoU, Sarvam will design, develop and deploy AI applications for the operational, training and decision-support needs of the three Services, and will provide follow-on technical support. The work will cover several projects across all three Services, with HQ IDS facilitating the engagement. According to Sarvam, the Services will get access to the same foundation models, agentic infrastructure, and geospatial and perception systems. Lessons learnt from one Service's projects can then feed into the next. The company said the focus will be on decision support, and on target acquisition and data fusion across the sensor-to-shooter loop. Human oversight will be retained on operational decisions, it added. The AI layer, it said, will be built in India and deployed on sovereign infrastructure. The work will be carried out by Chanakya, Sarvam's firewalled division focused on national security and defence. Chanakya will use Sarvam's AI stack, including foundation models such as Sarvam 105B. The company said the two sides will take up projects, including building an AI fabric that connects the elements of India's defence capabilities. "Sarvam exists to build AI in India, for India," said Pratyush Kumar, co-founder of Sarvam, as per the press release. "We hold ourselves to the highest standards in this work."...