HMD Introduces New Smartphone in India Featuring Sarvam AI Chatbot to Strengthen Local Market Presence

Finnish smartphone maker HMD has launched its new Vibe 2 5G smartphone in India, becoming the first HMD device to come preloaded with the Indus chatbot from Indian AI startup Sarvam AI. The partnership was first announced during the India AI Summit in New Delhi earlier this year.

Sarvam’s 105-billion-parameter AI model powers the Indus chatbot and supports 22 Indic languages. It also offers mid-sentence code-switching, allowing users to switch naturally between languages such as Hindi and English while maintaining context. Currently, the app requires an internet connection and does not include device-level shortcuts for quickly launching the assistant.

For both companies, the collaboration serves as an opportunity to test consumer demand for a locally developed AI assistant designed specifically for Indian users.

Ravi Kunwar, HMD’s CEO and Vice President for India and APAC, said the immediate goal is to make the Indus app easily accessible by preloading it onto devices. He added that future efforts will focus on increasing user engagement and long-term adoption once consumers begin using the service regularly.

The Vibe 2 5G is a midrange Android smartphone featuring a 6,000mAh battery and a price tag of ₹10,999 (about $114). HMD also plans to extend the chatbot to future Vibe-series smartphones and is expected to introduce a feature phone with Sarvam AI integration in the coming months.

That feature phone strategy could prove especially important. According to IDC, HMD held around 4% of India’s feature phone market in 2025, while its smartphone presence remained relatively small and outside the country’s top 15 brands.

Despite growing interest in AI, Indus remains in the early stages of adoption. Appfigures data shows the chatbot has been downloaded just over 293,000 times in India since launch. By comparison, ChatGPT recorded approximately 43.9 million downloads in the country during the same period.

Still, industry observers see value in the approach. Bundling a regional AI assistant with affordable smartphones and feature phones could help reach users who prefer local languages and may not regularly use English-focused AI services. In a market as diverse as India, direct device distribution could become a key advantage.

Sarvam AI has emerged as one of India’s leading AI startups, focusing on enterprise partnerships and voice-based AI solutions, as well as consumer products like Indus. Reports suggest the company is currently exploring a $300 million funding round at a valuation of roughly $1.5 billion, potentially making it one of the country’s best-funded AI companies.

With the Vibe 2 5G launch, HMD and Sarvam AI are taking an early step toward bringing locally built AI tools to a wider Indian audience while testing consumer response to a homegrown multilingual chatbot experience.