OpenAI's Sam Altman calls India a key AI market, clarifies remarks on AI capabilities

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has reaffirmed India’s growing significance in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector, calling it the company’s second-largest market globally. During a discussion with Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Altman also sought to clarify his past remarks on India’s ability to build large language models (LLM), asserting that his comments had been “taken out of context”.

"We are now in a world where we have made incredible progress with distillation. Models are still not cheap, but they are doable. India should be a leader there, of course," Altman stated.

His remarks came as part of a broader discussion on AI economics, where he acknowledged that while the costs of training AI models will continue to rise, the long-term economic value and returns would also increase.

Vaishnaw, in turn, reiterated the Indian government’s commitment to AI adoption, highlighting its use of AI applications across various government departments to address large-scale challenges. He also announced plans to foster competition and empanel startups to develop AI-driven solutions.

Drawing a parallel to India’s success in space exploration, Vaishnaw likened the country’s LLM ambitions to the Chandrayaan mission, stressing that young Indian entrepreneurs have the capability to develop AI models that are both cost-efficient and scalable. “On the same lines as the Chandrayaan mission, why can’t we do the same in the LLM space?” he questioned.

Altman, however, tempered expectations regarding AI’s current potential in solving complex medical challenges. “We are not there at the technological level where we can expect these models to cure cancer or similar diseases,” he said.

Despite this, Vaishnaw praised OpenAI’s contributions, stating, “OpenAI really makes life easier, in terms of making notes and other tasks.”

Altman acknowledged that deep AI research and its widespread adoption will take time, but he expressed optimism about India’s role in shaping the future of artificial intelligence.

His visit to India—his first since his 2023 remarks sparked controversy—underscores OpenAI’s growing engagement with the country as it cements its position in the global AI landscape.