OpenAI CEO Meets India's IT Minister to Discuss Low-Cost AI Ecosystem
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met with India's IT Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Wednesday to discuss India's plan for developing a cost-effective AI ecosystem.
During their meeting, Vaishnaw expressed India's "strategy of creating the entire AI stack - GPUs, models, and apps" and emphasized OpenAI's willingness to contribute to all three areas.
Altman's visit to India marks his first since 2023 and comes amid legal challenges faced by the company in the country, which boasts its second-largest user base.
Vaishnaw's recent praise for Chinese startup DeepSeek's affordable AI assistant highlights the Indian government's desire to develop its own localized AI model.
"Our country sent a mission to the moon at a fraction of the cost that many other countries did. Why can't we do a model that will be a fraction of the cost that many others do?" Vaishnaw stated in a video of the meeting.
Altman's trip to India follows visits to Japan and Korea, where he secured agreements with SoftBank Group and Kakao. In Seoul, he also engaged in discussions with SoftBank and Samsung regarding the Stargate AI data center project, supported by former US President Donald Trump.