OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has revealed that India has become the company’s second-largest market, with a threefold increase in users over the past year. Altman made these remarks during a fireside chat on Wednesday as part of his visit to India, where he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“India is an incredibly important market for AI in general and OpenAI in particular,” Altman stated, emphasizing that the country should be a leader in the ongoing AI revolution.
AI and India’s Technological Ambitions
Altman’s visit coincides with India’s growing push towards AI-driven technological advancements. Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who was also present at the event, outlined India’s focus on chip design, foundational model development, and AI applications.
Altman praised the country’s progress in building AI infrastructure and applications. “India should be doing everything—it’s quite amazing to see what the country has achieved,” he said, highlighting the potential for continued growth and innovation in the sector.
Addressing Past Controversies
During the event, Altman addressed previous comments he made in 2023 regarding India’s ability to compete with companies like OpenAI in building core AI models. At the time, he had stated that creating a product like ChatGPT would be nearly impossible for companies with limited resources, a remark that sparked backlash.
Clarifying his earlier comments, Altman explained that they were taken out of context. “The question was about competing with us with $10 million, which I do think wouldn’t work. But I still said try!” Altman tweeted in response to the controversy. He reiterated this clarification during the recent event, emphasizing that India should continue its efforts in AI innovation.
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The Future of AI Development
Altman spoke about advancements in AI cost management, particularly through model distillation—a process that helps reduce model size while maintaining performance. “We have made incredible progress with distillation, developing smaller reasoning models. Training them is still expensive, but this will lead to an explosion of creativity,” he noted.
Altman further highlighted that while the cost of training AI models is likely to continue rising, the returns from increased intelligence and capabilities will also grow exponentially. He concluded by affirming India’s potential to become a global leader in AI innovation and development.
The visit comes at a time when competition in AI is heating up globally. Notably, DeepSeek, a Chinese foundational model, has gained traction for its low-cost approach, posing a challenge to companies like OpenAI that rely on substantial investments in AI infrastructure.
