OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says his India comment taken out of context, question was wrongFull story in 5 points

By Divyanshi SharmaOpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the man behind viral AI tool ChatGPT, was in India recently and has been making headlines ever since. From meeting PM Narendra Modi to saying he doesn’t really trust ChatGPT’s answers, the OpenAI CEO’s India visit has been quite eventful. Of late, Altman has been drawing flak for his comments made on India creating something like ChatGPT. The young entrepreneur took to Twitter to clarify his stance and said that his words had been taken out of context and that he was asked the ‘wrong question’. Netizens have also responded to Altman’s tweet and while some say that they support him, others are still convinced that his statement was wrong.

Here is the full story of what has been happening, in five points.

1. Sam Altman’s comment on India building ChatGPT-like tech

Let’s begin from where it all started. Long story short, Sam Altman was attending an event in New Delhi when former Google India head Rajan Anandan asked him about his guidance on how we could create something like ChatGPT in India. He asked, “Sam, we have got a very vibrant ecosystem in India but specifically focussing on AI, are there spaces where you see a startup from India building foundational (AI) models; how should we think about that.”

He added, “Where is it that a team from India, with three super-smart engineers having not 100, but USD 10 million each could actually build something truly substantial?”

To this, Sam replied by saying that one can try building something like that in India but it would be ‘pretty hopeless’.

The OpenAI CEO said, “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, and it’s your job to like trying anyway. And I believe both of those things. I think it is pretty hopeless.”

2. Initial social media reactions

Anandan then shared a snippet of the conversation on Twitter and captioned it, “Thank you Sam for the clear answer. As you said, “it is hopeless, but you will try anyway”. 5000 years of Indian entrepreneurship has shown us that we should never underestimate the Indian entrepreneur. We do intend to try.”

However, even though Anandan took Altman’s answer in a rather positive way, Twitter users weren’t so kind to the OpenAI CEO. Soon, social media was buzzing with netizens’ thoughts about Altman’s statement.

“Look at his reply, so arrogant! India will make a better ChatGPT soon,” a user wrote, while another user said, “Sama is wrong. And right. When he started, others would also have told him that it is hopeless. But he built foundational models. Now he is saying hopeless (he is the incumbent) and it’s up to us to prove him wrong. And we will prove him wrong. Within the next 2 years. Mark this tweet.”

3. Tech Mahindra CEO’s reaction

The video gained even more attention when Tech Mahindra CEO, CP Gurnani, took Altman’s statement as a ‘challenge’. He shared the video and wrote on Twitter, “OpenAI founder Sam Altman said it’s pretty hopeless for Indian companies to try and compete with them. Dear Sam Altman, from one CEO to another.. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.”

4. Sam Altman’s clarification

Responding to Gurnani’s tweet on Saturday, the OpenAI CEO said that his response is being taken out of context and that he was asked the wrong question.

Taking to Twitter, he wrote, “This is really taken out of context! The question was about competing with us with USD 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.”

In another tweet, the OpenAI CEO added, “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.”

5. Social media reactions to Altman’s clarification

Altman’s tweet has over 400,000K impressions and many netizens have responded to the OpenAI CEO’s clarification. While some people are actually backing Sam, saying that they understand what he means, others are still convinced that his statement wasn’t appropriate.