As India positions itself at the centre of the global artificial intelligence conversation, senior technology leaders are preparing for high-level engagements in New Delhi.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is planning a visit to India in mid-February, marking his first trip to the country in nearly 1 year, according to a technology publication. The visit comes ahead of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, the country’s first major artificial intelligence summit.
The event is expected to bring together global technology leaders, including NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Indian business leaders such as Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani are also set to attend.
Alongside the summit, OpenAI is planning a series of private meetings in New Delhi, where Altman is likely to be present. The company is also hosting an event on February 19 for venture capitalists and industry executives. Several other US-based companies are planning side events during the same week to connect with India’s enterprise customers, start-up ecosystem, and developer community.
Altman’s visit comes as India emerges as a key growth market for American AI firms. Recently, Anthropic opened an office in Bengaluru and appointed former Microsoft India managing director Irina Ghose as its country head. Google and Perplexity have also partnered with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel to offer premium AI subscriptions to millions of telecom users.
OpenAI has been expanding its footprint in India by hiring for enterprise sales, technical deployment, and legal roles focused on AI regulation. The company is recruiting in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Despite ChatGPT being the most downloaded app in India and the second largest by users globally, OpenAI has faced challenges in converting demand into paid subscriptions. To address this, it launched a lower-priced “ChatGPT Go” plan last year, priced under $5.
During the visit, Altman is expected to meet technology executives, start-up founders, and government officials. These discussions align with OpenAI’s efforts to increase enterprise adoption of ChatGPT while building it as a mass-market product. The company has been engaging with sectors such as education and media.
OpenAI is also evaluating India as a potential base for future infrastructure expansion. While Google and Microsoft announced multi-billion-dollar investments last year to grow their AI and cloud presence, India’s data-centre ambitions face hurdles such as uneven power supply, high energy costs, and water shortages, which could raise operating costs.
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