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Terming AI sovereignty equivalent to virginity, Sharma said that India should not give its AI sovereignty to the foreign world at all

Sharma also said that India’s AI ecosystem lacks belief and ambition, and not capability

This came on the same day as Paytm announced the launch of its AI-powered soundbox, which can interact with merchants in 11 local languages

Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma yesterday said that he is “uncomforted” by India not effectively leveraging opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI) at scale.

“We are underestimating the power of AI. Startups in the Bay Area (US) are raising billions of dollars and we, back home, are not bothered about it… I’m uncomforted by the fact that our country is not playing the opportunity of AI at a scale we need to play,” said Sharma during a fireside chat at the Global Fintech Fest 2025.

Noting that India has long relied on systems made in the US throughout its technological evolution, he called for trimming this dependence and building a homegrown “operating system” (OS) for the AI age.

Sharma also said that India should protect its AI sovereignty at all costs.

“AI sovereignty is equivalent to virginity in a way. India should not give its sovereignty of AI to the foreign world at all. In my belief, we, as a country, are capable and will build it,” he added.

Sharma also exuded confidence that what is missing in India is belief and ambition, not capability. Slamming the oft-quoted narrative that there was lack of patient-capital for Indian AI startups, the Paytm CEO urged founders to build homegrown AI solutions.

“… For the first time, we also have access to risk capital. Compared to 2005 and 2015, capital inflow has rather increased, if not less. Now is the time for each of us, and especially the tech entrepreneurs, to take the bet that we will not let our company become controlled by any other country’s AI,” added Sharma.

In response to a question, the Paytm CEO also said that the fintech company will work on AI in 2025, adding that Paytm will adopt a newer brand identity for the AI services. He, however, did not elaborate further on this.

This came on the same day as Paytm announced the launch of its AI-powered soundbox for small and medium businesses. Launched on the sidelines of the GFF 2025, the device comes with an AI assistant that interacts with merchants in 11 local languages, providing real time insights and answers modeled on their payments and business performance.

The company claimed that the soundbox, built on Android, will help merchants track collections and manage their business easily through both voice and screen. Equipped with dual displays, including a front touchscreen for easy interaction and a top display for instant updates, the Paytm AI Soundbox also supports QR and card transactions.

With this, the fintech giant has aggressively scaled up its AI-led offerings. In September last year, Sharma said that Paytm was fully committed to integrating AI in its core business payment.

The company is already using the technology for marketing as well as to automate customer care operations. Besides, it also partnered with AI search engine Perplexity earlier this year to provide users with real-time financial assistance on its app.

On the financial front, Paytm swung to the black in Q1 FY26 and clocked a consolidated net profit of INR 122.5 Cr against a net loss of INR 840.1 Cr in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, revenue from operations also grew 28% to INR 1,918 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 1,502 Cr in Q1 FY25.