New Sahabat-AI Enters Development Stage as Indonesia Moves Towards Digital Sovereignty

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (Indosat or IOH) and PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk (GoTo or GoTo Group) have announced the first phase of development of Sahabat-AI (Artificial Intelligence), an open-source Large Language Model (LLM) ecosystem specifically designed for Bahasa Indonesia and its local languages.

This groundbreaking project is a significant step forward in advancing Indonesia’s digital sovereignty, preserving its linguistic heritage, and unlocking new pathways for socio-economic growth and innovation.
The launch of Sahabat-AI, held during Indonesia AI Day, featured distinguished speakers including Erick Thohir Minister of State Owned Enterprise of The Republic of Indonesia; Jensen Huang, NVIDIA Founder and CEO; Vikram Sinha, President Director and CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison; and Patrick Walujo, CEO of GoTo.

Sahabat-AI is a collective effort to empower Indonesia with a locally developed open-source LLM ecosystem. Created by Indonesians, for Indonesians, it aligns with the Golden Indonesia 2045 vision, supporting national leadership in technology and infrastructure. Due to its understanding of local context, Sahabat-AI will enable Indonesians to build AI-based services and applications in Bahasa Indonesia and various local languages, addressing a gap left by global AI models.

Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, said: “Indonesia, as a large nation with aspirations to achieve Golden Indonesia by 2045, possesses a crucial asset that must be managed very well—its human resources, which will reach the peak of a demographic bonus in the 2030s. The capability of superior human resources will be a key determinant of a nation’s progress. Especially in this era of rapid technological disruption, one of which includes AI. The government remains committed to enhancing the readiness of human resources and creating an ecosystem that empowers the younger generation to innovate, modify, and develop technology, including AI-based advancements, across economic, social, cultural, and linguistic domains.”

Sahabat-AI is more than just a large language model (LLM); it is an open ecosystem that brings together research institutes, universities, media organizations, government agencies, and other partners in a national effort. The collaboration aims to blend international expertise with local innovation to address Indonesia’s unique needs. It is supported by AI Singapore and Tech Mahindra, which used NVIDIA AI Enterprise software including NVIDIA NeMo to train the model and enhance general language understanding.

Sahabat-AI Brings Together Indonesia’s Best in Tech

Indonesia’s leading universities (University of Indonesia, Gadjah Mada University, Bandung Institute of Technology, and Bogor Institute of Agriculture) and media groups such as Republika and Kompas Group will also contribute to ensure Sahabat-AI is optimised for local context and cultural relevance.

Sahabat-AI is capable of processing vast amounts of data in Bahasa Indonesia and its local languages, while preserving essential cultural and linguistic nuances. The Sahabat-AI model was trained using NVIDIA’s full-stack AI platform and  is designed as a solution for Indonesians’ everyday lives. In its first phase, Sahabat-AI will launch with 8-billion and 9-billion parameter LLMs.

Indosat Group, which works closely with NVIDIA in Indonesia, will provide continued support for the ongoing development of Sahabat-AI’s family of models using Indosat Group GPU Merdeka sovereign AI cloud service featuring NVIDIA Hopper-based accelerated computing. Hippocratic AI, the first of its kind, safely-focused LLM for healthcare, will incorporate the new Sahabat-AI models into its services for Indonesia residents.

Vikram Sinha, President Director and Chief Executive Officer Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, stated: “Sahabat-AI is not just a technological achievement, it embodies Indonesia’s vision for a future where digital sovereignty and inclusivity go hand in hand. By creating an AI model that speaks our language and reflects our culture, we empower every Indonesian to harness advanced technology’s potential. This initiative is a crucial step towards democratizing AI as a tool for growth, innovation, and empowerment across our diverse society.”

The model is designed to enable Indonesians from private, public and educational sectors to interact with advanced AI technology in their native language. By bridging the digital divide in this way, Sahabat-AI not only fosters digital literacy in Indonesia, but also accelerates growth across key sectors.

Patrick Walujo, Chief Executive Officer of GoTo, added: “Our vision for Sahabat-AI is to put the power of AI into the hands of everyone in Indonesia. By operating in Bahasa Indonesia, Sahabat-AI addresses critical context and cultural reference gaps left by the global large language models.”

He further pointed out: “It will help our businesses to communicate in new ways with customers, it will help our government ministries develop tools to engage with citizens more comprehensively and it will drive meaningful change for millions of people across the country. However, the only way to realize this vision is with the support of others. This is why we are inviting stakeholders from all sectors to join the development of this important open-source LLM ecosystem as we aim to drive the country forward together.”

Jensen Huang, NVIDIA Founder and CEO, said: “Sahabat-AI launches Indonesia’s AI journey and showcases how LLMs can be tailored to serve unique linguistic and cultural needs. Indonesia’s culture of ‘gotong royong,’ or mutual collaboration, demonstrates how industry, researchers and the public sector can come together to help every nation use AI to advance development.”

As Indonesia moves toward its Golden Indonesia 2045 vision, initiatives like Sahabat-AI play a pivotal role in positioning the nation as a leader in AI innovation. The project demonstrates Indonesia’s sovereign AI capabilities, paving the way for future developments and boosting its influence in the global AI landscape.