Sam Altman clarifies amid furore over ’India’s ChatGPT attempt is hopeless’ remark

OpenAI founder Sam Altman had made waves earlier this week after asserting that India's attempts to develop an artificial intelligence tool like ChatGPT was "hopeless". The remarks came during an interaction with venture capitalist and former Google India head Rajan Anandan during his recent visit to India. The latter had sought to know how Indian startups could embark on the journey of developing models akin to those created by OpenAI.

“We will explicitly tell you that it's completely hopeless to challenge us in training foundational models, and you shouldn't even attempt it. However, it is your responsibility to still make the attempt, and I genuinely hold both of these perspectives. I genuinely believe that the chances of success are quite slim,” Altman had said during the interaction with Anandan.

The response had left many fuming while others including Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani said they accepted the ‘challenge’. Altman however clarified in a social media post that his remarks had been taken out of context and misconstrued. 

“The question was about competing with us with $10 million, which I really do think is not going to work. But I still said try! However, I think it’s the wrong question. The right question is what a startup can do that’s never been done before, that will contribute a new thing to the world. I have no doubt Indian startups can and will do that! And no one but the builders can answer that question,” he tweeted.

Altman met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi earlier this week, discussing various aspects of AI including the need for global regulation.

"We welcome all collaborations that can accelerate our digital transformation for empowering our citizens," PM Modi had written following the interaction.

Talking about his plan for India, Altman said that the first thing he will do in India is to fund startups.

"We were always amazed and quite grateful for the quality of Indian startups," he said, adding that he had met some startups in India.

(With inputs from agencies)