TLDR: Indonesian IT giant GoTo and major telecom Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison have launched Sahabat-AI, the nation’s first home-grown, full-scale, generative artificial intelligence service. This new AI model, with 70 billion parameters, supports five local languages and is accessible via sahabat-ai.com and the GoPay app, aiming to boost digital sovereignty and economic transformation in Indonesia.
JAKARTA – Indonesian technology powerhouse GoTo and leading telecommunications provider Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison have officially launched Sahabat-AI, a groundbreaking home-grown artificial intelligence chat tool. This initiative marks a significant milestone as Indonesia’s first full-scale generative AI service designed to support local languages, reinforcing the nation’s commitment to digital sovereignty.
The Sahabat-AI model, boasting an impressive 70 billion parameters, is engineered to cater to Indonesia’s diverse linguistic landscape. It supports Bahasa Indonesia, Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, and Bataknese, in addition to several international languages. This multilingual capability, combined with enhanced accuracy, aims to serve the varied needs of individuals and businesses across the archipelago. GoTo Group CEO Patrick Walujo emphasized that this collaboration has resulted in a platform that is ‘smarter, faster, and more affordable.’
Accessibility is a key focus of this launch. The Sahabat-AI chat service is available through its dedicated website, sahabat-ai.com, and is also integrated into the widely used GoPay app. This integration leverages GoTo’s extensive user base, ensuring that millions of Indonesians can easily access and benefit from this uniquely Indonesian Large Language Model (LLM). Walujo stated that making the service available via the GoPay app will drive AI adoption across the country.
The development of Sahabat-AI is underpinned by locally operated infrastructure, which is crucial for ensuring data residency, optimal performance, and compliance with national regulations. Indosat has played a pivotal role in providing the technical backbone for Sahabat-AI’s training, inference, and scalability, utilizing its GPU Merdeka of Lintasarta – Indosat’s AI Factory. This local infrastructure is deemed essential for both public sector adoption and enterprise innovation.
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This partnership aligns with Indonesia’s broader AI economic strategy, which projects AI to contribute a substantial $366 billion to the nation’s GDP by 2030. The initiative builds upon Indonesia’s robust digital economy, characterized by over 180 million smartphone users, internet penetration reaching 79% by 2024, and a digital economy projected to hit $146 billion by 2025. The government’s Digital Talent Scholarship program, aiming to train over 100,000 professionals in digital skills including AI and data analytics, further underscores the nation’s commitment to fostering AI talent. Indosat CEO, in a statement, highlighted that ‘Sahabat-AI is more than a model — it’s a national asset powered by collaboration and built for all Indonesians,’ reflecting a ‘gotong royong’ (mutual cooperation) development approach with universities and media groups.
