AI Opportunities Before India, Global Regulation: OpenAI's Sam Altman Reveals "Great Hour" With PM Narendra Modi

The chief executive of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, Sam Altman, says he had a great meeting with PM Narendra Modi on 8 June, reporting back that the Indian Prime Minister was enthusiastic about AI.

"great conversation with @narendramodi discussing india's incredible tech ecosystem and how the country can benefit from ai. really enjoyed all my meetings with people in the @PMOIndia," he said in a tweet.

India's Digital Indian Bill, replacing the IT Act, seeks to regulate AI at a time when the government disagrees with Altman's approach to regulation. This makes the meeting particularly intriguing.

Answering questions at the Digital India Dialogues, Altman said, “It was great. It was really fun. He was so enthusiastic, really thoughtful about AI, and the benefits of it. We asked why India has embraced ChatGPT so much and so early. It’s really been fun for us to watch. He had great answers about that.”

They discussed AI opportunities and regulation in India, he added.

“We talked about the opportunities in front for the country, what the country should do, also the need to think about global regulation to make sure we prevent some of the downsides from happening — but it was a great hour,” the OpenAI CEO said.

India's love for ChatGPT is evident as the country has embraced the platform with great enthusiasm and early adoption, Altman told the Economic Times on 7 June.

Altman's tour of India covers meetings with officials, discussions on India's flagship AI programme, and other engagements.

Altman has proposed a global regulatory body to oversee advanced AI, but Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Minister of State for Information Technology, has expressed a differing opinion.

“Sam Altman is obviously a smart man. He has his own ideas about how AI should be regulated. We certainly think we have some smart brains in India as well and we have our own views on how AI should have guardrails,” Chandrasekhar has said.

“If there is eventually a United Nations of AI – as Sam Altman wants – more power to it. But that does not stop us from doing what is right for our digital nagriks (citizens) and keeping the internet safe and trusted,” according to the Minister.