'India will be one of the biggest markets for AI': OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on jobs and growth
India AI Impact Summit 2026: AI will definitely impact the job market, but we always find new things to do, and I have no doubt we will find lots of better ones this time, says Sam Altman
- Feb 19, 2026,
- Updated Feb 19, 2026 2:10 PM IST
India AI Impact Summit 2026 | OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman on Thursday said India will be one of the biggest markets for artificial intelligence, describing the country's adoption of AI as "leading the world". He, however, acknowledged that AI will definitely impact jobs.
Also Read: Jio will reduce the cost of AI as it did the cost of data: Mukesh Ambani at AI Summit 2026
Altman is in India for the India AI Summit, where he spoke about the country's growing influence in the AI ecosystem. "It is amazing to be here, obviously, the work happening in India and the adoption of AI is leading the world, and I can't wait to see what goes next. This will be one of the biggest markets for AI in the world, and I think India will have a huge amount of influence," he said while speaking to reporters.
When asked about concerns about employment, the OpenAI CEO said: "It (AI) will definitely impact the job market, but we always find new things to do, and I have no doubt we will find lots of better ones this time."
Altman described India as one of OpenAI's fastest-growing markets. He said India's AI opportunity is amazing and that "this is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world."
"Maybe it's the fastest at this point. It's certainly the fastest for OpenAI Codex," he said, adding that "there are more than 100 million people. They use ChatGPT every week."
Earlier today, OpenAI announced a partnership with the Tata Group as part of its global Stargate initiative to expand AI-ready infrastructure in India.
The company said OpenAI and Tata Group are partnering to develop local, AI-ready data center capacity designed for data residency, security, and long-term domestic capability. OpenAI will become the first customer of Tata Consultancy Services' (TCS) HyperVault data center business, beginning with 100 megawatts of capacity and with potential to scale to 1 gigawatt over time.
OpenAI said this infrastructure will enable its most advanced models to run securely in India, delivering lower latency while meeting data residency, security, and compliance requirements for mission-critical and government workloads.
The two companies also announced a strategic enterprise collaboration to accelerate AI-native transformation at a global scale. Tata Group plans to deploy ChatGPT Enterprise across its employees over the next several years, starting with hundreds of thousands of TCS employees, making it one of the largest enterprise AI deployments in the world.
TCS also intends to use OpenAI's Codex to standardize AI-native software development across teams.
OpenAI said the move builds on recent partnerships with leading companies in India, including JioHotstar, Eternal, Pine Labs, Cars24, HCLTech, PhonePe, CRED, and MakeMyTrip.
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India AI Impact Summit 2026 | OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman on Thursday said India will be one of the biggest markets for artificial intelligence, describing the country's adoption of AI as "leading the world". He, however, acknowledged that AI will definitely impact jobs.
Also Read: Jio will reduce the cost of AI as it did the cost of data: Mukesh Ambani at AI Summit 2026
Altman is in India for the India AI Summit, where he spoke about the country's growing influence in the AI ecosystem. "It is amazing to be here, obviously, the work happening in India and the adoption of AI is leading the world, and I can't wait to see what goes next. This will be one of the biggest markets for AI in the world, and I think India will have a huge amount of influence," he said while speaking to reporters.
When asked about concerns about employment, the OpenAI CEO said: "It (AI) will definitely impact the job market, but we always find new things to do, and I have no doubt we will find lots of better ones this time."
Altman described India as one of OpenAI's fastest-growing markets. He said India's AI opportunity is amazing and that "this is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world."
"Maybe it's the fastest at this point. It's certainly the fastest for OpenAI Codex," he said, adding that "there are more than 100 million people. They use ChatGPT every week."
Earlier today, OpenAI announced a partnership with the Tata Group as part of its global Stargate initiative to expand AI-ready infrastructure in India.
The company said OpenAI and Tata Group are partnering to develop local, AI-ready data center capacity designed for data residency, security, and long-term domestic capability. OpenAI will become the first customer of Tata Consultancy Services' (TCS) HyperVault data center business, beginning with 100 megawatts of capacity and with potential to scale to 1 gigawatt over time.
OpenAI said this infrastructure will enable its most advanced models to run securely in India, delivering lower latency while meeting data residency, security, and compliance requirements for mission-critical and government workloads.
The two companies also announced a strategic enterprise collaboration to accelerate AI-native transformation at a global scale. Tata Group plans to deploy ChatGPT Enterprise across its employees over the next several years, starting with hundreds of thousands of TCS employees, making it one of the largest enterprise AI deployments in the world.
TCS also intends to use OpenAI's Codex to standardize AI-native software development across teams.
OpenAI said the move builds on recent partnerships with leading companies in India, including JioHotstar, Eternal, Pine Labs, Cars24, HCLTech, PhonePe, CRED, and MakeMyTrip.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine