At a summit packed with policy talk and billion-dollar AI plans, it wasn’t a speech that caught attention first; it was a pair of glasses. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seen wearing a sleek, camera-fitted smartglasses device during a walkthrough at Bharat Mandapam for the India AI Impact Summit 2026. The device is called ‘Sarvam Kaze,’ and it comes from homegrown startup Sarvam AI.
So what exactly are these glasses, and why are they getting noticed? Moving AI off the screen Sarvam Kaze is an AI-powered wearable built in the form of regular spectacles. But unlike normal glasses, this device listens, processes what it hears, and responds in real time. It can also capture what the user sees. The idea, according to the company, is to take AI beyond phones and laptops and bring it into the physical world. Instead of typing prompts into a chatbot, the user interacts through voice and visual input.
Sarvam AI co-founder Pratyush Kumar described it this way: Sarvam Kaze moves intelligence from the screen to the real world. You wear it. It listens, understands, responds, and captures what you see. And you can build custom experiences for it with the Sarvam platform. In short, it’s designed to function like an always-available AI assistant, just embedded in eyewear. Also read: ‘Flip-flop’ on Bill Gates’ attendance at India AI Summit
PM Modi tries it first Photos shared by Kumar show the Prime Minister wearing the glasses while exploring the exhibition floor. He appeared to be testing its real-time response features during the visit. Kumar wrote on X: The first person to try them? The Prime Minister.The public appearance immediately made Sarvam Kaze one of the most talked-about products at the summit. Built in India Sarvam AI says the glasses are designed and built in India. Kumar described the launch as the company’s step toward putting its AI models directly “into your hands with our devices, designed and built here in India.” The startup has confirmed that the device is expected to launch in May 2026. The hardware will reportedly run on Sarvam’s own AI models, which are being developed for Indian languages and use cases. What is Sarvam AI working on? Sarvam AI is among the startups building indigenous foundational AI models under India’s broader push to strengthen its domestic AI ecosystem. The company has been working on language and speech models tailored for Indian users. Recently, it introduced tools like Sarvam Akshar for document digitisation, Sarvam Studio for multilingual content creation, and Saaras V3, a speech recognition model. The smartglasses appear to be an extension of that effort, turning software into a physical, wearable product. Also read: Made-in-India ‘Sarvam AI’ beats ChatGPT and Gemini
Part of a bigger AI moment The launch comes as India ramps up its AI ambitions under the IndiaAI Mission, announced in 2024 with a ₹10,372 crore outlay.
The government has onboarded tens of thousands of GPUs and backed multiple teams to build large language models within the country. In that context, Sarvam Kaze feels less like a standalone gadget and more like a signal. India’s AI ecosystem is no longer just about models and policy frameworks; it’s also moving into hardware.
