Ahead of India AI Summit 2026, Sam Altman backs India as a future ‘full stack AI leader’, signals deeper collaboration

In a strong endorsement of India’s artificial intelligence ambitions, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has described the country as a potential “full-stack AI leader” and confirmed plans to expand partnerships with the Government of India to accelerate adoption, infrastructure, and skills development.

Writing ahead of the Global AI Impact Summit 2026, Altman said India has emerged as OpenAI’s second-largest user base globally, underscoring the country’s rapid embrace of generative AI technologies.

In an opinion piece published in The Times of India, Altman stressed that the company’s approach is to build AI “in India, with India, and for India,” highlighting efforts to make tools accessible regardless of income, education, or technical background.

India’s AI Moment: Scale Meets Ambition

Altman revealed that India now has around 100 million weekly active users of OpenAI tools, with the largest student user base in the world. He pointed to this scale as evidence that AI adoption in India is not confined to enterprises but is spreading across classrooms, nonprofits, and small businesses.

The company has already begun embedding itself locally:

OpenAI opened its first office in Delhi last August.

It trained 200+ nonprofit leaders across four cities to use ChatGPT for operational and social impact work.

New partnership announcements with the Indian government are expected soon.

Altman noted that India combines three rare advantages: deep technical talent, a coordinated national AI strategy, and widespread public optimism about technology-led growth.

Altman outlined a framework he believes is essential for ensuring AI benefits reach beyond early adopters:

1. Access – Making AI tools widely available and affordable.

2. Adoption – Integrating AI into schools, healthcare, agriculture, and small enterprises.

3. Agency – Building confidence and literacy so people can use AI for decision-making, not just automation.

“When these three align,” Altman said, “people participate not just as users of AI, but as builders and beneficiaries.”

Altman praised the government’s IndiaAI Mission, approved in March 2024 with an outlay of ₹10,371.92 crore, calling it a model aimed at:

Expanding national compute capacity

Supporting AI startups and research ecosystems

Building multilingual AI for public service delivery, especially in healthcare and agriculture

He emphasised that the initiative reflects an understanding that AI must scale to “hundreds of millions,” not remain limited to elite users.

Despite rapid uptake, Altman cautioned that access alone is not enough.

He warned of a “capability overhang”—a gap between having AI tools and knowing how to use them effectively.

His prescription: AI literacy at scale, including:

Practical coding and workflow skills

Training for knowledge workers

Institutional integration into education and governance

He also flagged compute power and energy infrastructure as decisive factors that will determine which nations ultimately lead the AI race.

The Global AI Impact Summit 2026 will take place from February 16-20 at Bharat Mandapam, marking the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South.

Discussions will unfold through thematic working groups — called “Chakras” — focused on inclusive growth, governance frameworks, and sustainable AI deployment.

Altman framed the relationship as mutually defining: “AI will help define India’s future, and India will help define AI’s future — in a way only a democracy can.”

(With inputs from ANI)