Sam Altman calls India building ChatGPT-like tool 'hopeless'. Tech Mahindra CEO says 'challenge accepted'

Sam Altman was asked a ChatGPT question by Rajan Anandan at an event in India.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on Twitter at the start of this week that he would be going on a six-nation tour that included India and true to his word, he came to India.

At an event, Altman was asked by former Vice President of Google in India and South East Asia and current venture capitalist Rajan Anandan whether India can build an artificial intelligence tool such as ChatGPT.

"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, where is it that a team from India (should start) to actually build something truly substantial?," Anandan asked at an event organised by The Economic Times.

"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, in reply.

Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani shared Altman's reply on Twitter and said that the challenge was accepted.

"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 wrote.

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

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— CP Gurnani (@C_P_Gurnani) June 9, 2023

"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 wrote.

Thank you @sama 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@sama@OpenAIhttps://t.co/gQkxOZAFCW

— Rajan Anandan (@RajanAnandan) June 8, 2023

Also read: ChatGPT creator Sam Altman meets another CEO in India. This one is his friend from Stanford