Anand Mahindra, the chairman of the Mahindra Group, has come to the defence of OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, after he was criticised for his recent comments on India’s ability to create innovative AI technology. During a recent visit to India, Altman was asked by former Google India head, Rajan Anandan, about the possibility of an Indian start-up developing something akin to OpenAI’s revolutionary ChatGPT chatbot. Altman replied that it would be pretty hopeless for a start-up from India to compete with OpenAI, but he encouraged them to try anyway.
Mahindra took to Twitter to defend Altman, saying that his comments had been misunderstood, and that he had been crystal clear about his belief in the capabilities of Indian entrepreneurs. Mahindra also referred to a tweet from Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani, who had accepted Altman’s challenge and taken his comments as a challenge.
Altman clarified his comments on Gurnani’s tweet, stating that they had been taken out of context and that he had been asked the wrong question. He stressed that the right question for a start-up to ask was what new thing it could contribute to the world. Despite this clarification, his comments were received as a challenge by Gurnani who tweeted his acceptance of the challenge.
The controversy surrounding Altman’s remarks highlights the growing interest in the development of AI technology in India. With the country’s growing tech ecosystem and huge pool of talented engineers and entrepreneurs, it is likely that India will produce some of the most innovative and revolutionary AI technology in the coming years. Despite the challenges involved, this is an exciting time for Indian start-ups, and it will be interesting to see how they rise to the challenge of developing something truly groundbreaking in the AI space.
