Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Inc., speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. Trump announced a joint venture to fund artificial intelligence infrastructure worth billions of dollars with the leaders of Softbank Group Corp., OpenAI LLC, and Oracle Corp., an effort aimed at speeding development of the emerging technology.
In a significant shift, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has revised his earlier remarks, now praising India’s potential to become a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI). This change in perspective comes after Altman previously referred to India’s efforts in developing large-scale AI models as “totally hopeless.” The comments were made during his recent visit to India, where he highlighted the country’s rising influence in the field of AI and its importance in the future of global AI development.

Altman’s remarks were made during an event attended by India’s Union Minister for Railways and Electronics & IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw. The event, which marked Altman’s first visit to India since his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2023, was an opportunity to foster discussions on AI’s potential in India. Altman revealed that India is now OpenAI’s second-largest market, with the company seeing a significant rise in the number of users within the country over the past year. This highlights how rapidly India has embraced AI technology, especially considering that just a few years ago, the country was not seen as a major player in the field.
The timing of Altman’s visit could not be more crucial. The global AI landscape is changing fast, with various countries making significant strides in AI development. A week before Altman’s visit, China’s DeepSeek AI tool had made waves by surpassing OpenAI’s ChatGPT in popularity on the US Apple App Store. This posed a challenge to OpenAI’s dominance, but it also spurred the company to continue innovating. In response, OpenAI launched o3-mini, the most cost-efficient of its reasoning agents, as well as a new ‘Deep Research’ tool. These developments are designed to push the boundaries of what smaller AI models can achieve while also enabling ChatGPT to handle more complex and multi-step research tasks by parsing large amounts of online data.
Altman’s trip to India is part of a broader effort by OpenAI to strengthen partnerships with emerging AI markets. Along with visits to South Korea, Japan, the UAE, Germany, and France, Altman’s journey signals OpenAI’s plans to collaborate with countries that are still in the early stages of AI adoption but show great potential. His visit underscores the importance of building relationships with nations where AI has yet to fully take root but could play a pivotal role in the future.
India, in particular, is stepping up its AI game with the launch of the IndiaAI Mission, which aims to make the country a global hub for AI innovation. The mission seeks to create an AI ecosystem within India that is both secure and cost-effective, with a focus on developing models for diverse sectors like healthcare, education, agriculture, and disaster management. This ambitious vision aligns with OpenAI’s goals of making AI accessible and usable for people worldwide. Altman, recognizing India’s potential, expressed confidence that the country should take a leadership role in AI development. He acknowledged that while AI models are still expensive to train, costs are dropping, making it increasingly feasible for countries like India to create competitive models.
Altman’s comments were a marked departure from his stance in 2023 when he dismissed the idea of smaller teams with limited budgets creating viable AI models. Back then, he described such efforts as “totally hopeless.” However, on this visit, Altman clarified that his 2023 remarks had been taken out of context. He emphasized that technological advancements and cost reductions are creating new opportunities for countries and companies of all sizes to enter the AI field. This shift in perspective highlights how rapidly the AI industry is evolving, and how innovations in technology are making it more accessible to a broader range of players.
During the event, Minister Vaishnaw highlighted India’s ability to innovate cost-effectively, pointing to the country’s success with its low-cost space missions. India’s achievements in space exploration, particularly its mission to the Moon, have been a testament to the country’s ability to deliver results with limited resources. Vaishnaw argued that this same innovative spirit could be applied to AI, leading to the creation of cost-effective AI models that could benefit various sectors of the economy. “Why can’t we create a model that is a fraction of the cost of those from other countries?” Vaishnaw asked, adding that India’s AI advancements could benefit sectors like healthcare, education, agriculture, weather forecasting, and disaster management.
Altman echoed Vaishnaw’s sentiments, saying that while AI models remain expensive to develop, they are becoming more feasible as technology advances. He reiterated that India has the potential to become a global leader in AI by leveraging its strengths in innovation, cost-effective solutions, and a large, talented workforce. Altman’s vision for India’s role in AI is one where the country not only adopts AI but also contributes to shaping the future of the technology.
Following the meeting, Vaishnaw shared his enthusiasm on social media, calling the discussion with Altman “super cool.” He emphasized the importance of building a comprehensive AI ecosystem within India, which includes developing GPUs, models, and applications. Vaishnaw also mentioned that OpenAI is open to collaborating with India on all three areas, which could result in significant advancements in the country’s AI capabilities.
Altman’s visit also comes at a time when India is facing some challenges in the AI space. OpenAI is currently embroiled in a copyright lawsuit filed by a group of book publishers and media companies. This legal battle highlights the growing concerns around the use of copyrighted material in AI models. Despite these challenges, India’s focus on developing its own AI models, designed to be safe, secure, and cost-effective, could offer a path forward for the country in the global AI race.
As India continues to strengthen its position in the AI space, Altman’s visit marks an important milestone in the country’s technological future. With a combination of government initiatives, industry partnerships, and innovative talent, India is positioning itself to become a key player in the AI revolution. As the world continues to navigate the complexities of artificial intelligence, India’s role in shaping its future seems more promising than ever.