JAKARTA – Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, one of Indonesia’s leading telecommunication companies, and GoTo Gojek Tokopedia, the country’s largest tech conglomerate, have joined forces to develop Sahabat-AI – a new large language model ecosystem in Indonesian languages.
The goal of Sahabat-AI is to enable Indonesians to build a wide range of AI-based services and applications that can understand and operate in Bahasa Indonesia as well as various local languages, while also reflecting the nuances of Indonesian context and culture.
The initiative is supported by AI Singapore and Indian IT services firm Tech Mahindra, which utilized Nvidia’s AI Enterprise software, including the NeMo platform, to train the language models and enhance their general language understanding capabilities.
“Sahabat-AI would enable Indonesians to build artificial intelligence-based services and applications in Bahasa Indonesia and various other local languages, with the understanding of local context,” the companies said in a joint statement.
Several Indonesian universities and media groups will also contribute to optimizing the Sahabat-AI models for optimal local relevance and cultural fit.
Growing AI Ecosystem in Indonesia The launch of Sahabat-AI highlights the burgeoning interest in artificial intelligence within Indonesia’s tech landscape. Companies like Microsoft have already pledged to build data centers in the country to support the growing AI industry.
Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and GoTo Gojek Tokopedia, as major players in Indonesia’s telecommunications and technology sectors, are positioning themselves at the forefront of this AI transformation.
By creating a large language model ecosystem tailored to Indonesian languages and cultural contexts, the companies aim to empower local developers, startups, and enterprises to build innovative AI-powered applications and services.
The initial phase of Sahabat-AI will feature 8-billion and 9-billion parameter large language models, leveraging Nvidia’s full-stack AI platform to power the development.
This collaboration underscores the growing importance of localized AI solutions that can truly understand and serve the needs of diverse, multilingual markets like Indonesia. As the country’s digital economy continues to grow, initiatives like Sahabat-AI will play a crucial role in shaping its AI-driven future.
Source: Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/technology/indonesian-telco-tech-firms-launch-sahabat-ai-language-model-ecosystem-2023-11-14/)
