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Sam Altman clarifies 'India's AI efforts hopeless' remark, now says 'India should be a leader in AI'

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Jaya Vishwakarma
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sam altman

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman

Sam Altman, co-founder and CEO of ChatGPT OpenAI, has clarified his earlier remarks calling India’s efforts to develop large-scale AI models “totally hopeless,” now saying the country should play a leading role in artificial intelligence (AI). 

Speaking at an event attended by India’s Union Minister for Railways and Electronics & IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Altman praised the nation’s growing tech prowess and noted that India has become OpenAI’s second-largest market.

“AI models remain expensive to train, but they are getting more feasible, and India should be a leader in this space,” he said.

Altman’s comments contrast sharply with his stance in 2023, when he was asked whether a small team with a limited budget could create a competitive AI model. At the time, he dismissed the idea as “totally hopeless.”

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Now, he says those remarks were taken out of context, emphasizing that technology costs are coming down and opening the door for more players to enter the field.

Nevertheless, Altman acknowledged that while AI development is costly, it provides significant long-term economic value. He said that AI model training will remain expensive but is no longer out of reach for countries like India.

His statement follows Minister Vaishnaw’s recent announcement that India is working on its own AI model designed to be safe, secure, and cost-effective.

The move is part of the broader IndiaAI mission, which aims to develop AI solutions suited for India’s specific needs, including support for multiple Indian languages.

Recently, Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal announced the launch of Krutrim AI Lab in a bid to boost open-source AI research and development. Krutrim said the new lab aims to provide cutting-edge infrastructure for AI projects, foster collaboration with academia and startups, and address linguistic and data challenges unique to India.

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