Pakistan has reached an impressive milestone in the technology sector with the beta launch of Zahanat AI, the country’s first homegrown artificial intelligence chatbot. Led by entrepreneur Mehwish Salman Ali, who is the co-founder and CEO of both Data Vault and Zahanat AI, this platform aims to tackle Pakistan’s specific challenges by providing solutions that are culturally aware and locally relevant.
Zahanat AI represents the result of years of hard work at a dedicated data center in Karachi, which has been operational since 2022. This ensures that all data processed by the AI model remains within Pakistan. The data center is equipped with high-speed internet and strong DDoS protection.
The system employs a hybrid GPU architecture, utilizing both Nvidia GPUs and chips and initially relied on used gaming GPUs to enhance its computational capabilities. The development of this project was relatively budget-friendly. While the creators mentioned that DeepSeek cost $5 million to develop, they indicated that Zahanat AI was less expensive, though they did not disclose the exact figure.
Mehwish Salman Ali said:
Our goal was to create an AI that understands and responds to the specific needs of Pakistan. Zahanat AI is trained on a massive dataset of 2 billion parameters, all processed and stored within Pakistan, ensuring cultural awareness and relevance.
A notable aspect of Zahanat AI is its commitment to ethical and responsible AI development. The platform is designed to filter out sensitive subjects and steer clear of conversations about specific individuals.
Currently, the beta version of Zahanat AI is available by invitation only, requiring interested users to provide their email and personal information, such as their job title, work email, and social media profiles. This selective approach is intended to collect valuable insights and enhance the platform before a broader public launch.
Ali further explained:
By training Zahanat AI on Pakistan’s data, we are building a tool that can provide Pakistan-focused solutions to the diverse problems faced by our communities. We believe this technology has the potential to transform various sectors, from education and healthcare to business and governance.
At this stage, the beta release features the initial Z1 model of Zahanat AI, with future enhancements planned, including the upcoming Z2 model. The Z2 model will offer multilingual support for all languages spoken in Pakistan and will also incorporate voice input capabilities.
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