Misal Pav is Fine, but Do You Know What an AI Startup's Misal LLM is?

If you are an Indian, especially a Marathi, you must have heard about Misal, the famous spicy Marathi dish usually served with a bun (pav). Now before you get driven away with the tasteful thoughts of Misal Pav let us tell you that there is a new startup in town that is pairing Misal with AI! Yes, you heard it right. There is something new cooking up between Misal and AI - Misal LLM. 

Wondering what is Misal LLM?

Let us tell you that Misal LLM is a language model. Bengaluru-based startup Smallstep.ai has unveiled "Misal," a large language model (LLM) tailored for Marathi speakers. Inspired by the zesty Maharashtrian dish, Misal aims to cater to the growing demand for AI capabilities in local languages across India.

Drawing parallels to the beloved breakfast staple, Sagar Sarkale, the founder of Smallstep, shares his inspiration behind the name choice. "Misal holds a special place in Marathi culture, much like our model aims to do in the AI landscape," Sarkale explains.

Built on Meta’s Llama2 model, Misal LLM comes in four tantalizing versions, each designed to elevate Marathi language processing. Sarkale, with a keen eye on linguistic inclusivity, recognized the gap in AI models catering to Marathi speakers and set out to fill it.

What is SmallStep.ai?

Smallstep.ai is a startup that's all about using artificial intelligence (AI) to understand and work with different languages. Imagine you're typing on your phone, and it predicts the next word you're going to type – that's AI in action. Now, Smallstep.ai takes this a step further by focusing on making AI understand and use languages like Marathi better.

Their main product, Misal, is like a super-smart language tool specifically made for Marathi speakers. It helps with things like writing, translating, and understanding text in Marathi. This startup believes that everyone should be able to use AI in their own language, not just in English or other widely used languages.

Founded by Sagar Sarkale, who knows a lot about data science (that's the fancy term for working with big sets of data to find useful information), Smallstep.ai is based in Bengaluru, India's tech capital. They're on a mission to make AI more accessible and useful for people who speak languages other than English.

As Misal takes its first steps into the world of AI, Smallstep.ai remains dedicated to continuous improvement. With future iterations promising enhanced techniques and safety measures, Misal aims to become a staple tool for Marathi speakers navigating the digital realm.

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