India's AI opportunity is amazing: Sam Altman
New Delhi, Feb 19
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Thursday said India is witnessing extraordinary growth in Artificial Intelligence adoption, describing the country as one of the company's fastest-growing markets globally.
Speaking to media on the sideline of 'India AI Impact Summit 2026' in the national capital, Altman said India's AI opportunity is amazing. It's great to be here.
"This is one of our fastest growing markets in the world. Maybe it's the fastest at this point. It's certainly the fastest for Codex," Altman told reporters.
Altman highlighted that India is now home to over 100 million weekly users of ChatGPT, ranging from students and teachers to developers and entrepreneurs.
"There's more than 100 million people. They use ChatGPT every week," he mentioned.
He noted that the scale and speed of adoption in the country underline its growing importance in the global AI ecosystem.
Earlier in the day, Altman announced the launch of the 'OpenAI for India' initiative at the summit.
The initiative aims to build infrastructure, strengthen skills and create local partnerships to develop AI solutions tailored for the country.
He said the goal is to build "AI with India, for India, and in India."
Under this initiative, OpenAI will collaborate with leading Indian partners, starting with the Tata Group, to expand access to AI and unlock its economic and social benefits.
The partnership will focus on building sovereign AI capabilities, accelerating enterprise adoption, investing in workforce upskilling and supporting India's growing AI ecosystem.
As part of OpenAI's global Stargate initiative, the company and Tata Group will work together to develop AI-ready data centre capacity in India.
OpenAI will become the first customer of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) HyperVault data centre business, starting with 100 megawatts of capacity and potentially scaling up to 1 gigawatt over time.
Altman said India's strong tech talent base, optimism around AI and government support position the country well to shape the future of democratic AI adoption at scale.
The planned infrastructure will allow OpenAI's advanced models to operate securely within India, ensuring lower latency and compliance with data residency and security requirements.
— IANS
Reader Comments
While the optimism is good, we must ensure this doesn't become another case of foreign companies extracting our data and talent. The "sovereign AI capabilities" part is crucial. Hope the government ensures strong data protection laws are in place and benefits truly reach Indian startups.
Amazing to see India recognized as potentially the fastest growing market for Codex! As a developer in Bangalore, ChatGPT has become part of my daily workflow. Local data centres mean faster response times and more relevant solutions for Indian languages and contexts. Jai ho!
Working in tech here for 5 years, the energy around AI is palpable. The focus on upskilling is key. We need to make sure this opportunity reaches tier-2 and tier-3 cities, not just the metros. Can't wait to see what solutions get built for local challenges in agriculture and healthcare.
Tata Group partnership is a solid choice. They have the scale and trust. 1 gigawatt data centre capacity is massive! This will create so many jobs in construction, operations, and of course, in AI development itself. Hope our engineering colleges are preparing students for these new roles.
As a teacher, I use ChatGPT weekly to create lesson plans and explain concepts. It's a powerful tool. I just hope this initiative also focuses on making AI tools accessible and affordable for schools and small businesses across the country, not just large enterprises.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.