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AI Race Won't Slow Down, Say Sarvam, Emergent Founders at Moneycontrol Startup Conclave
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Moneycontrol•28-09-2026, 14:57
AI Race Won't Slow Down, Say Sarvam, Emergent Founders at Moneycontrol Startup Conclave
- •Founders of Sarvam AI and Emergent believe the global AI race will not slow down despite safety concerns, emphasizing the need for safeguards.
- •Emergent founder Mukund Jha highlighted commercial pressures on AI labs as a key factor preventing a slowdown, despite increasing security risks.
- •Jha stressed the importance of strengthening model evaluations and security before deploying increasingly capable AI systems.
- •Sarvam AI co-founder Pratyush Kumar argued that India should accelerate its AI push to leverage opportunities in education, healthcare, and population-scale intelligence.
- •Both founders emphasized the growing concern around security as AI capabilities improve, urging India to build its own capabilities for critical national interests and for companies to control their AI systems and data.
Key Questions Answered
Emergent founder Mukund Jha stated at the Moneycontrol Startup Conclave 2026 that intense commercial pressure on AI labs makes a slowdown difficult, even as rapid capability improvements raise serious security and vulnerability concerns.
Pratyush Kumar argued that India should accelerate its AI push rather than slow down, enabling the country to move faster in critical areas like education, healthcare, and population-scale intelligence.
Kumar highlighted Sarvam's work with the government to reach three crore farmers at a low cost, alongside the digitisation of approximately four crore LIC forms using a custom AI model.
