“India is Building AI, Not Just Using It”: Sam Altman Praises PM Modi’s Vision at AI Impact Summit 2026

The halls of Bharat Mandapam were electric as Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, took the stage and later met privately with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the final days of the India AI Impact Summit 2026. The visit wasn’t just a courtesy call; it marked a fundamental shift in OpenAI’s global strategy, with India now positioned at the absolute center of its roadmap.

India: The World’s AI Laboratory

Altman’s praise for India was both specific and data-driven. He revealed that India has officially become the fastest-growing market for Codex (OpenAI’s AI coding partner), with weekly user numbers surging 4x in the last fortnight alone.

“It’s incredible to see the country’s leadership in advanced AI,” Altman noted. “More than 100 million people in India use ChatGPT every week, and a third of them are students. India isn’t just participating in the revolution; it’s leading the adoption curve.”

The “OpenAI for India” Initiative

The biggest announcement came in the form of a multi-dimensional partnership between OpenAI and the Tata Group. This isn’t just a software deal; it’s an infrastructure play:

• Sovereign AI Infrastructure: OpenAI will partner with TCS HyperVault to build massive AI-ready data centers in India, starting with 100 megawatts and scaling to a staggering 1 gigawatt.
• Hyper-Local Models: The collaboration aims to build Agentic AI solutions tailored specifically for Indian industries—from agriculture to rural healthcare.
• OpenAI Offices: Following the success of their Delhi presence, OpenAI confirmed it will open new offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru later this year to tap directly into India’s developer talent.

Superintelligence and the “IAEA for AI”

In a sobering keynote, Altman shared his most aggressive timeline yet: early versions of “true superintelligence” could arrive within just a couple of years. He predicted that by the end of 2028, more intellectual capacity could reside inside data centers than outside of them.

To manage this, Altman echoed PM Modi’s call for “Democratic AI,” suggesting the world might need a global institution—similar to the IAEA for nuclear energy—to coordinate AI safety and ensure that the technology doesn’t concentrate power in the hands of a single nation or corporation.

Addressing the Job Market

When asked about the “elephant in the room”—job displacement—Altman was candid but optimistic. “It will be very hard to outwork a GPU in many ways,” he admitted. However, he emphasized that humans are “hard-wired” to care about other humans, predicting a massive surge in the value of interpersonal, creative, and judgment-based roles.

The Bottom Line

The meeting between PM Modi and Sam Altman signifies that India has transitioned from being a “market to be sold to” into a “partner to build with.” With 100 million weekly users and a sovereign infrastructure deal with Tata, India is no longer just using AI—it is actively shaping the ethics, infrastructure, and future of global superintelligence.