On the concluding stage of his Asian tour, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman highlighted India's capacity to become a leader in artificial intelligence (AI), especially in developing smaller models. With OpenAI seeking to broaden its market, Altman pointed out the company's keen interest in India's vibrant developer ecosystem as a key component of its expansion strategy.
According to PTI, Bloomberg, and Business Today, Altman highlighted India's potential as a leader in AI, especially in developing small, reasoning models.
Despite the ongoing high costs of developing AI models, Altman acknowledged significant progress that might reduce hardware dependence, leading to an estimated tenfold decrease in the cost of intelligence units annually.
He stated that the world has reached a stage where incredible progress has been made with distillation. He noted that small models, particularly reasoning models, have been developed. Although training these models remains expensive, he believes this will result in an explosion of exceptional creativity. According to him, India should naturally be at the forefront of this advancement.
While AI training remains expensive, the expected advancements are set to spur creativity and innovation, with India poised to take a leading role. Altman discussed the dual aspects of cost dynamics: while frontier costs will rise, the benefits will also grow exponentially. He affirmed India's importance to OpenAI, noting its potential in healthcare and education, where AI could drive transformative change.
Altman also noted that India has emerged as OpenAI's second-largest market, with the user base tripling over the past year.
He added that it is amazing to see what India has done so far, acknowledging the strides Indian startups, researchers, and developers have made in AI innovation.
During his first visit to India in June 2023, Altman described India's chances of developing a foundational AI model like OpenAI's ChatGPT as "totally hopeless." On February 5, he clarified his comments, stating that he was referring to the challenges of competing with established AI giants in creating cost-effective foundational models.
During the visit, Altman met with government officials and emphasized the role of developers and entrepreneurs in securing the company's future. While Indian startups such as Yotta and Ola Krutrim utilize DeepSeek's affordable open-source models to create AI applications, Altman highlighted a significant reduction in OpenAI API costs and hinted at potential open-source initiatives.
India is rapidly advancing its AI under the IndiaAI Mission, which is backed by an investment of INR103.7 billion (approx. US$1.2 billion). The government plans to create a local large language model within 10 months. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has indicated that the foundational framework is complete, and efforts are now directed towards developing AI models that cater to India's unique linguistic and cultural requirements.