OpenAI Executives Meet Stakeholders to Discuss AI Ecosystem in India

OpenAI's top global executives reportedly continued their meetings with government officials, industry bodies, and policy groups during the final leg of their visit to India.
According to Business Standard, on Thursday (February 6), OpenAI’s leadership held two separate closed-door discussions with various groups. Sources indicated that the focus of these meetings was to gain a better understanding of India's AI and data regulation policies.

One source stated, “The purpose of these meetings was to get a comprehensive view of the data and AI regulatory framework in India. OpenAI executives were seeking to understand India's data governance structure, the potential impact of AI regulations on the industry, and the effects AI might have on labor and the workforce.”
Several OpenAI executives, including Srinivas Narayanan, the company’s global VP of Engineering, reportedly presented the company’s products and services to attendees while emphasizing the significance of India in OpenAI’s global strategy.

The second meeting included representatives from 20-25 industry bodies and advocacy groups, such as Nasscom, The Quantum Hub, Broadband India Forum (BIF), and The Centre for Internet & Society, as well as law firms like Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas.

During this session, OpenAI executives sought feedback on India-specific use cases. They worked to understand the country’s existing copyright laws and potential challenges the company could face while expanding there.

A source mentioned that OpenAI had been informed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) that the company needed to decide the localization of Indian citizens' data. Although OpenAI did not make any promises, it assured the government that it recognized the issue's importance and would soon share its data storage plans for India.

The executives also provided attendees with insights into the work being carried out using OpenAI’s foundational models.

This comes a day after OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, met with India’s IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a closed-door meeting. The two later participated in a fireside chat where Altman highlighted India's importance as a market for OpenAI, calling it “incredibly important” and noting that it is the company’s second-largest market globally. Altman also met with startup founders like Aloke Bajpai of ixigo, Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm, and Kunal Bahl of Snapdeal and Titan Capital.

During their discussions, Indian founders urged OpenAI’s executives to offer India-specific pricing and make its products and APIs more affordable for local developers and businesses. 

Source : Inc24