Prime Minister Narendra Modi engaged in a key bilateral meeting with Sam Altman, Chief Executive Officer of OpenAI, on the sidelines of the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi.

The encounter took place at Hyderabad House, a venue steeped in diplomatic tradition, underscoring the growing synergy between India's leadership and global technology pioneers.

This discussion followed Modi's earlier meeting with Cristiano Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm, highlighting a packed schedule of high-level tech engagements. Such interactions reflect India's strategic push to position itself as a frontrunner in artificial intelligence amid rapid global advancements.

The summit itself, hosted at Bharat Mandapam, has emerged as a pivotal platform for fostering international collaboration on AI. Altman, in his keynote address delivered on Thursday, praised the event as essential for cross-border cooperation, lauding India's swift embrace of AI technologies.

"It's really a treat to be here in India," Altman remarked, expressing admiration for the nation's leadership in advanced AI. He noted his return after just over a year, during which AI capabilities have surged—from systems grappling with basic high school mathematics to those now tackling research-level problems and generating novel results in theoretical physics.

Altman highlighted India's impressive strides in deploying AI to benefit a broader populace. He commended the country's focus on sovereign AI infrastructure, including small language models (SLMs) and robust foundational systems, which have positioned India uniquely on the world stage.

More than 100 million Indians now use ChatGPT weekly, with over a third being students—a statistic Altman cited to illustrate widespread adoption. India has also become the fastest-growing market for Codex, OpenAI's coding agent, which accelerates software development for users across the nation.

The summit's symbolic high point came on Thursday with a traditional 'family photo' at Bharat Mandapam. Prime Minister Modi stood alongside global tech luminaries, including Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet; Sam Altman of OpenAI; Alexandr Wang, Chief AI Officer of Meta; and Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic.

This gathering of heads of state, world leaders, and industry titans marked a defining moment, symbolising unified efforts to harness AI's potential responsibly. It signals deepening Indo-US tech partnerships, especially as India accelerates its indigenous AI ambitions under initiatives like the India AI Mission.

These meetings occur against a backdrop of India's aggressive AI roadmap, backed by investments exceeding ₹10,000 crore. The nation aims to build data centres, GPU clusters, and sovereign AI models, reducing reliance on foreign tech while addressing local challenges in healthcare, agriculture, and education.

Altman's optimism aligns with recent milestones, such as India's launch of homegrown AI models like BharatGen and Krutrim, developed by firms like Sarvam AI and Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal. Over 150 million weekly ChatGPT users in India underscore the democratisation of AI tools.

Qualcomm's involvement, via Amon's meeting, points to hardware synergies. The US chipmaker has expanded in India with 5G and AI-enabled devices, supporting Modi's vision for 'Make in India' in semiconductors and edge computing.

Broader implications extend to geopolitics. As tensions rise in the Indo-Pacific, AI leadership bolsters India's strategic autonomy, from defence applications to space tech via ISRO. Collaborations with OpenAI could fast-track multimodal AI for sectors like multilingual processing, vital for India's diverse 1.4 billion population.

PM Modi's engagements signal a proactive stance, potentially yielding investments, joint R&D, and policy alignments. With Altman returning amid OpenAI's frontier models like o1, these talks may catalyse tailored AI solutions for India's unique needs.

As the India AI Impact Summit 2026 progresses, it cements New Delhi's status as a global AI hub, blending tradition with innovation in pursuit of inclusive technological progress.

ANI