Sarvam targets AI beyond languages; General Catalyst’s $5B India bet

Hello,

The verdict is in: tariffs are out.

The US Supreme Court ruled to strike down President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, and said that he exceeded his authority by invoking a federal emergency-powers law to impose his global reciprocal levies. 

The ruling brought much cheer to the retail markets, easing worries that tariffs would hurt the economic growth outlook and company earnings.

So, what now? Well, if Trump does choose to pursue alternative legislation to reinstate tariffs, there are still avenues—albeit with major caveats, and none of the leeway of the law previously being invoked. 

Closer to home, India formally joined a US-led coalition to protect supply chains. The alliance, which includes countries such as Japan, South Korea, the UK and Israel, aims to strengthen critical minerals supply chains and deepen AI cooperation.

Even amid a supply crunch, OpenAI appears to be keeping its cool. The ChatGPT maker said it has visibility into what it is going to need regarding chip supply, while emphasising the need for international cooperation on AI governance, according to a Bloomberg report. 

Lastly, Peak XV Partners is betting big on its India and APAC ventures, closing $1.3 billion in capital commitments to invest across its India Seed, India Venture, and APAC funds.

‘Tis the season to double down on AI!

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Sarvam targets AI beyond languages
• General Catalyst’s $5B India bet
• AI making commerce conversational again

Here’s your trivia for today: What type of natural perfume comes from beavers?

Artificial Intelligence

Sarvam targets AI beyond languages

Sarvam AI, which created a buzz at the ongoing India AI Impact Summit 2026 with the introduction of a new model, has set a roadmap to bring out new innovations that go beyond its current focus on languages.

“We are not interested only in solving the language problem. That is a home turf for us, but we are interested in solving math, programming, and scientific questions with these models,” said Sarvam AI Co-founder and CEO Pratyush Kumar in a conversation with YourStory Founder and CEO Shradha Sharma at the India AI Impact Summit.

Promising days ahead:

• Kumar explained that Sarvam AI is building general-purpose models, which perform tasks such as digitising documents, recognising speeches, and answering complex questions.
• The strides made by Sarvam in a span of just two odd years have seen it being engaged with several state governments. It has signed agreements with Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, and is engaged in conversation with others like Odisha and Gujarat.
• According to Kumar, the focus of AI companies in India should be to solve the country's harder problems through deeptech, though he added that this will take time.

Top Funding Deals of the Week

Startup: Neysa

Amount: $600M

Round: Equity

Startup: Stable Money

Amount: $25M

Round: Pre-Series C

Startup: Statiq

Amount: $18M

Round: Undisclosed

Investment

General Catalyst’s $5B India bet

The way India is going to lead in AI is through entrepreneurship,” General Catalysts’ CEO Hemant Taneja noted while giving a keynote address at India AI Impact Summit 2026.

The address follows General Catalyst’s announcement that it will invest $5 billion in India over the next five years—making it one of the largest VC commitments made to India—amidst the country’s expanding talent pool, favourable macroeconomic factors, and AI capabilities.

Key takeaways:

• General Catalyst, which has backed Canva, Zepto, and Anthropic, will look to invest in companies across intelligence, healthcare, defence tech, fintech, and consumer technology.
• A key point Taneja made was to dismiss the narrative that AI can take the jobs of young people and slow down progress. He requested Indian leadership to reject this narrative and instead, lean into it.
• “A digital-native generation, given the right tools and platforms, will drive entrepreneurship, AI adoption, and economic participation at a scale no other country can match,” said Taneja.

Fintech

AI making commerce conversational again

Soon, you will be able to ask your fridge to buy a packet of milk for you. That, according to Harshil Mathur, Co-founder and CEO of Razorpay, is not a distant scenario but a logical extension of what he calls “agentic commerce”—payments embedded directly into conversational AI interfaces.

This week, Razorpay launched Agentic Payments on Claude in partnership with the NPCI, enabling users to order from Zomato, Swiggy, and Zepto within a chat interface at the India AI Impact Summit in Delhi. The rollout builds on an earlier integration unveiled with OpenAI at the Global Fintech Festival 2025, marking what the company describes as a sustained push into AI-native commerce.

News & updates

• Mega investment: NVIDIA is close to finalising a $30 billion investment in OpenAI, as the chipmaker moves to take a stake in one of its largest customers. The investment is part of a fundraising round in which OpenAI is seeking more than $100 billion. 
• Gadget: OpenAI has over 200 people working on a family of AI-powered devices that will include a smart speaker and possibly smart glasses and a smart lamp, the Information reported. The smart speaker, the first device OpenAI will launch, is likely to be priced between $200 and $300.
• Rate cut: A majority of members of RBI’s MPC view current policy rates as suitable for the economy, according to minutes from the February meeting, though two members indicated potential for future rate cuts. Members also await the rollout of a new GDP data series later this month for a clearer read on the economy.

What type of natural perfume comes from beavers?

Answer: Castoreum

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