OpenAI CEO discusses AI roadmap with Indian startup leaders

New Delhi, Feb 5 (IANS) OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Wednesday met leading Indian startup founders and investors in a closed-door session here, and discussed the ChatGPT maker’s plans for the Indian market.

Altman, along with top company executives chief product officer (CPO) Kevin Weil and VP of Engineering Srinivas Narayanan, also discussed the challenges faced by AI-driven businesses and potential opportunities for collaboration.

Prominent startup leaders who attended the meeting included Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal, Snapdeal co-founder Kunal Bahl, Chaayos co-founder Raghav Verma, Ixigo Group CEO Aloke Bajpai, Haptik CEO Aakrit Vaish, and HealthifyMe’s Tushar Vashisht.

Altman’s visit to India comes at a crucial time when large language models (LLMs) are at the centre of global AI discussions.

In a post featuring his photo with Altman, Sharma wrote on X: “Sam bh-ai,” playfully merging the Hindi word for brother (bhai) with AI, in a nod to OpenAI’s expertise.

“So much to do for AI in India, an exciting few months coming up,” posted Vaish on X.

Munjal said it was a great roundtable with Altman.

Earlier, during a fireside chat with Union Railways and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Altman revealed that India is the company’s second-largest market as OpenAI’s user base in the country has tripled over the past year.

‘India is an incredibly important market for AI in general, and for OpenAi in particular,” Sam Altman said.

He further added that the country has embraced AI technology and is building the entire stack, from chips to models and applications.

Meanwhile, the Indian government has intensified efforts to develop its own foundational AI models.

As part of the Rs 10,738 crore India AI Mission, Vaishnaw announced last week that several Indian startups have been identified to lead these initiatives.

–IANS

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