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OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman is reportedly planning to visit India in mid-February, marking his first visit to the country in nearly a year, according to TechCrunch. His visit coincides with the AI Impact Summit, 2026 which India is hosting in the capital city New Delhi which is scheduled for February 16-20.
The Summit will witness the participation from top tech and AI leaders across the world, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis, Meta's chief AI officer Alexandr Wang and more alongside key Indian business figures like Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, per the summit’s website.
According to the report by TechCrunch Altman is not listed as a confirmed leader attending the Summit, but OpenAI is separately planning to host closed-door meetings on the sidelines of the summit in New Delhi, where Altman is expected to be present.
Meanwhile, Anthropic is hosting a developers’ day in Bengaluru on February 16, the report said and Nvidia is also set to hold an evening event in New Delhi during the summit week.
The events will underscore the importance of global AI firms and their engagement in India’s enterprise customers, startup ecosystem, and developer community.
Recently, the world tech and AI leaders gathered in The World Economic Forum in Davos, where they are discussing the importance of AI and how it will affect the human race.
Altman’s visit also comes as India has emerged as a key growth market for American AI companies.
In recent months, Anthropic announced an office in Bengaluru and named former Microsoft India managing director Irina Ghose as its local head, while Google and Perplexity have struck partnerships with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, respectively, to bundle premium AI subscriptions for millions of telecom users.
OpenAI has been focusing to expand its presence in India, as the users in India are millions making it an active user country as ChatGPT recently made it free for Indians to witness free Go membership for one year.
The company has been hiring in India for enterprise sales, technical deployment, and legal roles focused on AI regulation, listing openings in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.
OpenAI is also looking at India as a potential base for infrastructure expansion, the sources said. Last year, major tech giants Google and Microsoft announced multibillion-dollar investments in India in order to expand their AI technology.
The Indian government is hopeful that the upcoming summit will cement India’s status as a destination for large-scale AI investment.
The Summit will witness the participation from top tech and AI leaders across the world, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis, Meta's chief AI officer Alexandr Wang and more alongside key Indian business figures like Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, per the summit’s website.
According to the report by TechCrunch Altman is not listed as a confirmed leader attending the Summit, but OpenAI is separately planning to host closed-door meetings on the sidelines of the summit in New Delhi, where Altman is expected to be present.
Importance of global AI firms
Meanwhile, Anthropic is hosting a developers’ day in Bengaluru on February 16, the report said and Nvidia is also set to hold an evening event in New Delhi during the summit week.
The events will underscore the importance of global AI firms and their engagement in India’s enterprise customers, startup ecosystem, and developer community.
India, the key growth for American AI companies
Recently, the world tech and AI leaders gathered in The World Economic Forum in Davos, where they are discussing the importance of AI and how it will affect the human race.
Altman’s visit also comes as India has emerged as a key growth market for American AI companies.
In recent months, Anthropic announced an office in Bengaluru and named former Microsoft India managing director Irina Ghose as its local head, while Google and Perplexity have struck partnerships with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, respectively, to bundle premium AI subscriptions for millions of telecom users.
Focus on India
OpenAI has been focusing to expand its presence in India, as the users in India are millions making it an active user country as ChatGPT recently made it free for Indians to witness free Go membership for one year.
The company has been hiring in India for enterprise sales, technical deployment, and legal roles focused on AI regulation, listing openings in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.
OpenAI is also looking at India as a potential base for infrastructure expansion, the sources said. Last year, major tech giants Google and Microsoft announced multibillion-dollar investments in India in order to expand their AI technology.
The Indian government is hopeful that the upcoming summit will cement India’s status as a destination for large-scale AI investment.
