Sam Altman says 'hopeless' for India to train ChatGPT-like AI, Tech Mahindra CEO says 'challenge accepted'

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman made an exciting announcement on Twitter this week, revealing his plans for a six-nation tour that included India. True to his word, Altman arrived in India and engaged in various activities during his visit. At an event organised by The Economic Times, Altman was asked a thought-provoking question by Rajan Anandan, a former Vice President of Google in India and South East Asia and current venture capitalist. Anandan inquired about India's potential to develop an artificial intelligence tool like ChatGPT, seeking Altman's insights on where Indian startups should focus their efforts to create something significant in the field of AI.

Altman responded candidly, explaining the dynamics at play. He acknowledged India's vibrant ecosystem but expressed his belief that it would be challenging for Indian companies to compete with OpenAI on training foundation models. Despite his statement of doubt, Altman encouraged Indian entrepreneurs to undertake the challenge anyway. 

"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 try anyway. And I believe both of those things. I think it is pretty hopeless," Altman said.

CP Gurnani, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Tech Mahindra, was quick to share Altman's reply on Twitter, expressing his acceptance of the challenge presented. Gurnani conveyed his determination to prove Altman's statement wrong. "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," he tweeted.

“At Tech Mahindra, we started working on Generative AI around 2015-16 with one of our first IP created in the media domain called Storicool. An auto content creation platform, it was beyond its years. Since then, we have launched a suite of AI offerings for enterprises to help them in their digital acceleration journeys. We were also among the first IT services company whose chatbot, developed by makers lab, became the 51 most credible chatbots (in the era of chatbots) in 2016,” Gurnani told Business Today.

Furthermore, Gurnani highlighted Tech Mahindra's amplifAI0->∞ suite of AI offerings, which provides tailor-made, transformative, and agile solutions to organisations, unlocking the next level of growth. The suite includes a Generative AI studio, enabling enterprises to generate high-quality content outputs more efficiently. This comprehensive studio encompasses six aspects of content generation—Code, Document/Text, Image, Video, Audio, and Data—offering enterprises a centralised platform to explore the possibilities of Generative AI.

Meanwhile, Anandan, also undeterred by Altman's initial scepticism, chose to remain optimistic. He took to Twitter to thank Sam Altman for his response and emphasised that Indian entrepreneurs possess an indomitable spirit that should never be underestimated. "Thank you, Sam Altman, 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," he tweeted.

 

Amidst his visit, Altman also had the privilege of meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Altman shared that he took the opportunity to inquire about India's embrace of ChatGPT, further highlighting the interest and relevance of AI in the country.

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