As New Delhi gets ready to host the India AI Impact Summit, OpenAI chief Sam Altman has placed India at the centre of a global conversation about who will actually build the next wave of artificial intelligence. In comments released ahead of the summit, Altman said India could emerge as a “full-stack AI leader”, a view that puts the country alongside nations that are not only using AI tools, but creating the systems behind them, ANI reports.
For India, the statement lands at a moment of confidence. AI tools are spreading quickly across the country, from classrooms and startups to non-profits and small businesses. For OpenAI, India has moved from being an experiment market to one of its most important user bases.
India becomes impossible to ignore for top AI companies
Altman said India is now OpenAI’s second-largest market by users, behind only the United States. Around 100 million people in the country use OpenAI’s tools every week, he noted, with students forming the largest group globally on ChatGPT. India also ranks among the top countries using Prism, the company’s free research and collaboration tool.
“OpenAI is committed to doing its part to help build AI in India, with India, and for India,” Altman wrote. He said the company has kept many of its tools free so that access is not limited by income, education or technical background.
That push has already led to deeper engagement on the ground. OpenAI recently trained more than 200 non-profit leaders across four Indian cities on using ChatGPT to improve their work. The company opened its first office in Delhi last year and plans to expand its presence further in 2026. Altman confirmed he will visit India next week and said new partnerships with the government will be announced soon.
A test of ambition and execution
Altman laid out a simple framework for how AI can actually help people. He said that tools must be available, used in everyday settings, and paired with the confidence to make decisions. “When these three align, more people can participate not just as users of AI, but as builders and beneficiaries of the growth it enables,” he said.
The Indian government is trying to create those conditions through the IndiaAI Mission, which aims to build computing capacity, support startups and push AI use in public services such as healthcare and agriculture. Altman said India understands that AI must be used to build practical solutions, not just high-end demos.
He also flagged the risks. One concern is what he called a “capability overhang” — a gap between access to AI tools and the skills needed to use them well. To close that gap, Altman called for AI education at scale, focused on real skills in coding, research and knowledge work. He added that long-term investment in computing power and energy would decide which countries stay ahead.
“AI will help define India’s future, and India will help define AI’s future,” Altman said.
The India AI Impact Summit, being held from February 16 to 20 at Bharat Mandapam, is expected to draw global policymakers and technology leaders. One notable absence will be Jensen Huang, whose visit was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances, according to Nvidia.
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