OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Says India's ChatGPT Attempt Is 'Hopeless'

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New Delhi: Sam Altman, the founder, and CEO of OpenAI, stated during an event in India that it is "hopeless" for India to attempt to develop an AI tool akin to ChatGPT. His remarks were delivered on Thursday in response to a query from Rajan Anandan, a venture capitalist and former head of Google India. Anandan had asked Altman for advice on how Indian startups might try to develop models resembling those of OpenAI. 

The former vice president of Google in India and South East Asia said, "Sam, we have a very vibrant ecosystem in India, but specifically focusing on AI, are there spaces where you see a startup from India building foundational (AI) models how should we think about that, where is it that a team from India (should start) to actually build something truly substantial?"

Altman reiterated that it is impossible to compete with OpenAI, adding that it is your responsibility to try nonetheless. "The way this works is we're going to tell you, it's totally hopeless to compete with us on training foundation models you shouldn't try," he added. And I firmly believe both of those. It seems rather hopeless to me.

Despite Altman's assertions that India lacks expertise in the field of artificial intelligence, Anandan later tweeted: "Thank you, Sam Altman, for the obvious explanation. It is useless, but you will try anyhow as you stated. We should never undervalue the Indian entrepreneur, as the country's 5000-year history of entrepreneurship has demonstrated. We're going to try.

Thank you @sama for the clear answer. As you said, "it is hopeless, but you will try anyway". 5000 years of Indian entrepreneurship have shown us that we should never underestimate the Indian entrepreneur. We do intend to try @sama @OpenAI https://t.co/gQkxOZAFCW — Rajan Anandan (@RajanAnandan) June 8, 2023

Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani also responded to Altman's 'challenge' that Indian businesses could not compete with their American counterparts in terms of AI skills.

Sam Altman, the creator of OpenAI, stated on Twitter that Indian businesses had little chance of competing with them. Hello, @sama From one CEO to the next, I accept the challenge.

OpenAI founder Sam Altman said it’s pretty hopeless for Indian companies to try and compete with them.

Dear @sama, From one CEO to another..

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. pic.twitter.com/67FDUtLNq0 — CP Gurnani (@C_P_Gurnani) June 9, 2023

He continued, "We spent almost 8 months on GPT for making sure that it was safe enough to release." when asked how his business created the chatbot that captured the world's attention. We developed the technology, collaborated with organisations to determine what the appropriate limitations should be, and tested every one of them. Self-regulation is crucial, therefore. We want to make that available. The companies shouldn't have complete control over the planet.