Zoho's Sridhar Vembu praises Sarvam AI for using low energy and costs, calls it ‘world class’

Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu has praised Sarvam AI, calling it “world-class” and saying that the company has proven that high quality artificial intelligence can be built in a far more affordable and sustainable manner, with significantly lower energy and computing footprint.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Vembu said Sarvam AI’s approach shows that advanced AI systems do not have to be expensive or resource-hungry. “What Sarvam AI has demonstrated - world class AI can be done much more affordably and sustainably with much lower energy and compute footprint - is important,” he wrote on the social media platform.

The massive requirement of infrastructure and power consumption has been a growing environment concern, especially as AI models become more advanced and complex. The rapid expansion of data centres and computing facilities, which power AI, has led to a rising energy and water usage, as well as leading to substantial carbon emissions.

Vembu's take on AI energy footprint

The Zoho founder further highlighted that cutting down on energy and computer usage is becoming increasingly important, as current large-scale AI systems are putting growing pressure on global power resources.

He added that the planet cannot sustain the present energy footprint of many modern AI models, particularly those dependent on extensive data centers and large server farms for training and deployment of evolving technology.

“I have come to believe that in software code generation, much more energy and compute efficient approaches to AI can be developed. That is important because the earth cannot afford today's AI energy footprint,” he said.

What is Sarvam AI — All about the company

Sarvam AI, founded by Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar in 2023, is emerging as a key player in India's push to build sovereign artificial intelligence capabilities. The company aims to challenge the dominance of global tech giants such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta in the fast-growing AI space.

Backed by strong domestic momentum and government support, the startup is working towards developing foundational AI models tailored for India, Mint reported earlier.

Vembu is known to be a strong advocate for domestic products and homegrown innovation, and has often used his public comments to urge Indian companies to build local technology capabilities instead of relying heavily on foreign platforms.

Just two weeks back, he compared recent time's Big Tech companies to the historical East India Company, praising Europe’s awakening to the risks of foreign tech dominance. Vembu's post sparked debate among netizens, who also called for the growth of domestic platforms.