Amid the shock from Chinese-made AI app DeepSeek, an old video of OpenAI’s Sam Altman has resurfaced in which he termed Indian AI efforts 'totally hopeless’.
The video, from a 2023 ET Now summit, has resurfaced where he dismisses the potential of AI startups in India, claiming that those with a $10 million budget are “totally hopeless”.
In it, Sam Altman is asked a pointed question: “How is it that a team from India, with super-smart engineers and a $10 million budget — not $100 million — could build something truly substantial?”
Altman responds bluntly, saying, “Look, the way this works is, we’re gonna tell you it’s totally hopeless to compete with us on training foundation models, you shouldn’t try — and it’s your job to try anyway.”
“I think it is pretty hopeless, but...” he added.
Now, amid the release of DeepSeek and its impact on the US AI landscape, the resurfaced video has sparked a massive debate.
DeepSeek has quickly risen to become the most downloaded free app in the US, just one week after its launch. This surge in popularity coincides with growing concerns in the US over a tech race with China, alongside efforts to restrict the sale of advanced chip technology used in AI to the country.
A user wrote, “Sometimes people need to be humbled. It took DeepSeek to do it.”
One user summed it as: “Funny how ‘totally hopeless’ turned into real competition in just over a year. The AI space is moving fast — centralised control is breaking down, but the question remains: who gets to define the future of AI governance?"
Another user took a sharper jab: “Incredible. Did that demotivate Indians? Maybe China took it as a challenge. Incredible from China.”
“He was very straightforward and the Chinese were also very straightforward wiping out one trillion from tech stocks... 🤣,” added another.