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. Along with top company executives chief product officer (CPO) Kevin Weil and VP of Engineering Srinivas Narayanan, Altman also spoke about the challenges that AI-driven businesses face and possible opportunities for collaboration.
Chief presenters at the meeting included Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm NSE: PAYT, Unacademy Gaurav Munjal, and Snapdeal founder Kunal Bahl, who was accompanied by Chaayos co-founder Raghav Verma, Group CEO of ixigo Aloke Bajpai, Haptik CEO Aakrit Vaish, among others, apart from HealthifyMe's Tushar Vashisht.
Altman's visit happens at a pertinent time when huge language models - LLM are at the centerpiece of global conversations on AI.
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, "The country has embraced the AI technology. It is building the entire stack, from chips to models, and applications".
Meanwhile, India's government stepped up efforts on foundational AI models.
As a part of Rs 10,738 crore India AI Mission, Vaishnaw announced that several Indian start-ups have been identified to lead these initiatives in the last week.
Read also| India a Key Market for AI, Poised to Lead Globally: Sam Altman
