Sarvam AI launches Bulbul V2 to take on ElevenLabs with faster, cheaper speech model

Lightspeed-backed artificial intelligence (AI) startup Sarvam AI on May 7 released Bulbul V2, the latest version of its text-to-speech (TTS) model to deliver natural, human-like speech in 11 Indian languages.

Bulbul V2 introduces regional accents, fast performance, and customisable voice options, with an aim to take on rival ElevenLabs. "We speak more Indian languages than ElevenLabs," the startup said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Sarvam was recently selected to build India’s first homegrown AI foundational model.

Meanwhile, the latest version is an upgrade from Sarvam’s first version of Bulbul, launched on August 23. Bulbul V2 offers low-latency speech processing, with P90 latency speed at 0.398 seconds as against ElevenLabs' 0.945.

P90 latency, or 90th percentile latency, is a metric of how fast 90 percent of the requests are completed.

The cost offered by Sarvam is also cheaper than its New York-headquartered firm. Bulbul V2 is five times cheaper than ElevenLabs at Rs 15 per 10,000 characters.

The latest version’s language capabilities include Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, and Odia. The model also delivers speech with authentic regional accents.

Users can create unique voice identities, allowing for personalised and consistent auditory branding across different platforms.

About Sarvam AI

Founded in July 2023 by Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar, who previously worked at Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani-backed AI4Bharat, Sarvam develops a full-stack offering for Generative AI, ranging from research-led innovations in training custom AI models to an enterprise-grade platform for authoring and deployment.

Raghavan, an entrepreneur and technologist who was instrumental in building Digital Public Goods (DPGs) such as Aadhaar, said Sarvam will work with Indian enterprises to co-develop domain-specific AI models leveraging their data.

The Bengaluru-based startup aims to create population-scale impact by layering Gen AI on top of the highly successful India stack, specifically for public-good applications.

In December 2023, Sarvam AI raised $41 million in Series A funding round led by Lightspeed Ventures with participation from Peak XV Partners and Khosla Ventures.