India Is an Incredible Market for AI, Says OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
OpenAI chief Sam Altman said on Wednesday that India is now the second-largest market for OpenAI, with the company having tripled its user base in the country over the past year.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman: OpenAI chief Sam Altman said on Wednesday that India is now the second-largest market for OpenAI, with the company having tripled its user base in the country over the past year.
Altman, who is currently visiting India, emphasised that the country should be among the leaders of the AI revolution. The OpenAI founder is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.
“India is an incredibly important market for AI in general and OpenAI in particular. It is our second-biggest market, and we tripled our users here last year,” Altman said during a fireside chat.
"The innovation that’s happening, what people are building [in India], it’s really incredible. We’re excited to do much, much more here, and I think it’s (the Indian AI program) a great plan.”
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“I think India should be one of the leaders of AI revolution. It's really quite amazing to see what the country has done and embrace the technology and build it. ” the OpenAI CEO added.
Asked about his advice, as India looks to have a global voice in AI and take a leadership position, Altman said “it seems to me like it’s working". Altman’s bullish view on India’s AI efforts is a telling statement given that he had faced a backlash in 2023, when he had expressed doubts about powerful AI models emerging outside of the United State.
During the fireside chat on Wednesday, IT Minister Vaishnaw said that innovation can come from anywhere in the world “why shouldn’t it come from India".
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Altman’s visit, his second one in two years, comes at an interesting juncture when OpenAI’s (and indeed the western world’s) dominance in artificial intelligence has abruptly been challenged by Chinese upstart DeepSeek, which turned heads with its low-cost AI model R1, built at less than USD 6 million and guzzling a fraction of compute power when compared to popular models like ChatGPT.
Last week, India outlined global AI ambitions with plans to build its own ‘foundational model’ that could take on the might of ChatGPT, DeepSeek R1, and others, as it lined up “most affordable" common compute facility powered by 18,693 GPUs to be used by startups and researchers, for creating Artificial Intelligence applications, and new algorithms.
IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that India is all set to launch its own safe and secure indigenous AI model at an affordable cost. He said compared to global models costing USD 2.5-3 per hour of usage, India’s AI Model will cost less than Rs 100 per hour (USD 1.16 per hour) after 40 per cent government subsidy.
The minister had exuded confidence that India will build a foundational model that is world class, and that it will be able to compete with best models across the globe.
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