Sam Altman’s planned India visit comes as New Delhi prepares to host one of the world’s largest AI summits in February 2026.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is planning a visit to India in mid February, according to people familiar with the matter. The trip would be his first visit to the country in almost a year and comes at a time when New Delhi is preparing to host one of its largest artificial intelligence gatherings to date.
India is positioning itself as a major hub for global AI investment, and Altman’s planned visit highlights how important the market has become for U.S. technology companies.
India AI Impact Summit 2026 Draws Global Attention
New Delhi will host the India AI Impact Summit 2026 from February 16 to February 20. The event is expected to bring together top executives from some of the world’s most influential technology companies.
According to the summit’s official website, confirmed attendees include Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Prominent Indian business leaders such as Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani are also expected to attend. Although Sam Altman is not currently listed as a confirmed speaker or attendee, sources say OpenAI is planning several activities alongside the summit that would include his presence.
Closed Door Meetings and OpenAI Event Planned
People familiar with the plans say OpenAI is organizing private meetings in New Delhi during the summit week. These closed-door sessions are expected to involve senior executives, investors, and industry leaders, with Altman likely to attend.
In addition, OpenAI is hosting its own event in New Delhi on February 19. The gathering is expected to include venture capitalists and business executives from across India’s technology and startup ecosystem. These plans have not been publicly announced, and sources caution that schedules could still change.
AI Companies Line Up Side Events
OpenAI is not the only company planning activities around the summit. Several U.S.-based AI firms are organizing their own events in India during the same week. Anthropic has confirmed it will host a developers’ day in Bengaluru on February 16. NVIDIA is also expected to hold an evening event in New Delhi during the summit period, according to people familiar with the matter. This concentration of events shows how global AI companies are increasing their focus on India, not just as a user base but also as a source of enterprise customers, developers, and long-term growth.
Altman’s Return After a Year Away
If the trip goes ahead, it will be Altman’s first visit to India since February 2025. He had previously indicated plans to return later that year after OpenAI announced the opening of a New Delhi office in August, but that visit never took place.
Since then, OpenAI has continued to strengthen its presence in the country. The company has been hiring across enterprise sales, technical deployment, and legal roles focused on AI policy and regulation. Job listings are currently open in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.
India Becomes a Key AI Growth Market
India has quickly emerged as one of the most important markets for American AI companies. Anthropic recently opened an office in Bengaluru and appointed former Microsoft India managing director Irina Ghose to lead its local operations.
Google and Perplexity have also moved aggressively into the market. Both companies have announced partnerships with major telecom players, including Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, to bundle premium AI services for millions of users. For OpenAI, India has become its largest market by ChatGPT downloads and its second largest by total users. However, converting that popularity into paid subscriptions has proven difficult.
OpenAI’s Pricing and Adoption Challenges
To address pricing concerns, OpenAI introduced a lower-cost ChatGPT Go plan last year, priced below five dollars. The company also offered the plan free for one year to encourage adoption among Indian users.
While interest in ChatGPT remains strong, the company is still working to expand enterprise use cases and paid adoption at scale. Altman is expected to meet startup founders, senior executives, and government officials during his visit. These discussions are likely to focus on enterprise adoption, education, media partnerships, and long-term growth strategies.
Infrastructure and Investment Questions
OpenAI is also exploring India as a potential base for future infrastructure expansion, according to sources. This follows major investment announcements by Google and Microsoft, both of which have committed billions of dollars to expand AI and cloud infrastructure in India. However, challenges remain. India’s data center expansion faces issues such as inconsistent power supply, high energy costs, and water shortages in several regions. These factors could raise operating costs and slow large-scale deployments.
Despite these concerns, the Indian government is optimistic. The country’s IT minister recently said the upcoming AI summit could help attract up to 100 billion dollars in investment. The government is also encouraging local startups to build smaller AI models tailored to Indian use cases, intending to reduce dependence on foreign systems over time.
Looking Ahead
Neither OpenAI nor India’s IT ministry has commented publicly on Altman’s visit. Still, the timing of the trip, combined with the scale of the upcoming summit, signals how central India has become to the global AI conversation. As AI leaders converge on New Delhi, all eyes will be on how companies like OpenAI plan to balance growth, infrastructure, and affordability in one of the world’s fastest-growing technology markets.
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