OpenAI's Sam Altman to visit India amid AI leaders' New Delhi summit, sources say

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is scheduled to visit India in mid-February, his first trip to the country in nearly a year, according to TechCrunch. The timing coincides with New Delhi preparing to host a major AI summit that is expected to attract senior leaders from Meta, Google, and Anthropic.

India will host its inaugural major AI gathering—the India AI Impact Summit 2026—in New Delhi from February 16 to 20. The event aims to bring together global tech leaders such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, alongside prominent Indian business leaders including Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, according to the summit's official website. Altman does not currently appear on the confirmed attendee list.

However, TechCrunch has learned that OpenAI is independently organizing private meetings in New Delhi alongside the summit, where Altman is anticipated to participate. The company is also holding an OpenAI event in the city on February 19, with invitations extended to venture capitalists and industry executives, according to a source familiar with the plans.

Altman's visit has not been officially announced, and the arrangements remain subject to change, sources indicated.

Several other U.S. tech firms are also planning ancillary events during the summit week. Anthropic has confirmed it will host a developers' day in Bengaluru on February 16. Nvidia is similarly organizing an evening event in New Delhi during the summit, according to individuals familiar with the plans. (The GPU manufacturer did not respond to requests for comment.) This concentration of activities highlights how global AI companies are increasingly engaging with India's enterprise clients, startup network, and developer base.

This trip would represent Altman's first visit to India in almost a year, following his previous trip in February 2025. Altman had earlier expressed intentions to return later in 2025 after OpenAI announced the opening of a New Delhi office in August, though that planned visit did not materialize.

Altman's upcoming visit occurs as India has become a crucial growth market for U.S. AI firms. In recent months, Anthropic established an office in Bengaluru and appointed former Microsoft India managing director Irina Ghose as its country head. Meanwhile, Google and Perplexity have formed partnerships with Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, respectively, to offer premium AI subscriptions to millions of telecom subscribers.

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OpenAI has been strengthening its presence in India in recent months, recruiting for positions in enterprise sales, technical deployment, and legal roles specializing in AI regulation. The company currently has job openings listed for New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. India has become the largest market for ChatGPT by download volume and the second largest by user base. However, OpenAI has encountered difficulties converting this interest into paid subscriptions, prompting the introduction last year of a budget-friendly "ChatGPT Go" plan priced below $5, offered free for the first year to encourage adoption.

During his visit, Altman is expected to meet with key technology executives, startup founders, and government officials as OpenAI seeks to expand ChatGPT's enterprise usage while maintaining its appeal as a mass-market product. The company has been actively collaborating with various Indian sectors, including education and media, according to sources.

OpenAI is also evaluating India as a potential location for infrastructure expansion, sources revealed. Last year, both Google and Microsoft announced multi-billion dollar investments in India to enhance their AI and cloud capabilities. However, India's data center ambitions face obstacles such as inconsistent power supply, elevated energy expenses, and water shortages in certain areas—factors that may hinder AI infrastructure development and increase operational costs for cloud service providers.

Nevertheless, the Indian government remains optimistic that the upcoming summit will solidify the country's position as a hub for substantial AI investment. The nation's IT minister recently stated in an interview that the event could help secure up to $100 billion in investment. The central government is also encouraging domestic startups to develop smaller AI models tailored to local needs, with the long-term goal of reducing dependence on U.S.-based systems.

OpenAI, India's IT ministry, and the AI summit organizers did not respond to requests for comment.