“There’s no country in the world that quite matches India’s AI energy.” With those words, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman positioned India at the epicenter of the next great technological leap. Addressing industry leaders and policymakers, Altman highlighted that India is no longer just a consumer of global tech but a primary driver of how artificial intelligence is built, adopted, and governed.

Key Highlights from Altman’s Address

Altman’s remarks focused on the unique “ingredients” that make India a “full-stack AI leader”:

• Unprecedented Adoption: India is now OpenAI’s fastest-growing market globally, with over 100 million weekly active users of ChatGPT.

• The “Codex” Boom: India has become the fastest-growing market for Codex, OpenAI’s AI coding partner, with user activity quadrupling in just the last two weeks of February 2026.

• Sovereign AI Infrastructure: Altman praised India’s leadership in building its own “Sovereign AI” stacks and Small Language Models (SLMs), ensuring the country owns its technological future.

Strategic Partnerships: “OpenAI for India”

The summit wasn’t just about rhetoric; it served as the launchpad for a major nationwide initiative called “OpenAI for India.” * Tata Group Collaboration: In a landmark deal, OpenAI and the Tata Group announced a partnership to develop AI-ready data center capacity.

• TCS HyperVault: OpenAI will become the first customer of Tata Consultancy Services’ data center business, starting with 100 megawatts and potentially scaling to 1 gigawatt.

• Workforce Upskilling: The initiative includes scaling AI literacy through certifications and providing 100,000 ChatGPT Edu licenses to premier Indian institutions like IIM Ahmedabad and AIIMS.

A Shift in Perspective

Many observers noted that Altman’s 2026 comments represent a “sharp turn” from 2023, when he famously suggested it would be “hopeless” for a small Indian team to compete in training foundation models. Today, he frames India as a “central actor” that will decide the future of democratic AI adoption.

Industry Impact: “India is well-positioned to lead in AI—not just to build it, but to shape it, and decide what our future is going to look like,” Altman stated, emphasizing that the democratization of AI is the only fair path forward.