OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman is expected to visit India in mid-February, people familiar with the plan said, as New Delhi prepares for a high-profile week of AI meetings, stage events, and closed-door conversations . The visit has not been publicly announced, and the schedule could still change.
The timing lines up with the India AI Impact Summit 2026, scheduled for February 16–20 in New Delhi . The summit’s publicly listed lineup includes Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, a roster that signals how quickly India has moved from “interesting market” to “must-be-present moment” for global AI companies.
Altman’s name, notably, does not currently appear as a confirmed attendee on the summit’s roster . But that doesn’t necessarily mean OpenAI will be absent from the room.
OpenAI’s parallel track: private meetings and a Feb 19 gathering
OpenAI is expected to run its own set of meetings on the summit sidelines in New Delhi, including closed-door discussions where Altman is expected to participate.
The company is also slated to host an OpenAI event in New Delhi on February 19, with venture capitalists and industry executives invited, according to a person familiar with the arrangements .
This “parallel track” approach, public summit outside, private rooms inside, is increasingly how major AI companies do business in markets where policy, enterprise adoption, and developer ecosystems are evolving at the same time.
It won’t just be OpenAI: Anthropic and Nvidia plan India-week events too
The summit week is shaping up to be bigger than one conference.
- Anthropic is hosting a developers’ day in Bengaluru on February 16, the company confirmed .
- Nvidia is also expected to hold an evening event in New Delhi during the same week, according to people familiar with the plan.
Put together, the signals are clear: global AI leaders are aligning their India trips, stacking side events, and using the week to meet customers, partners, and policymakers in one run.
OpenAI, Sam Altman’s Visit and Indian Significance
OpenAI has been building out capacity in India, with hiring across enterprise sales, technical deployment, and legal roles tied to AI regulation, with openings referenced in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.
On the consumer side, India has emerged as a major usage base for ChatGPT, described as the product’s biggest market by downloads and second-largest by users . The push, however, is not just usage, it’s monetisation. A lower-priced “ChatGPT Go” plan was launched at under $5 and offered free for a year, aimed at accelerating adoption in the market.
If Altman visits, he is expected to meet a mix of tech executives, startup founders, and government officials, as OpenAI balances two priorities in India: deeper enterprise penetration and a broader paid consumer base .
India’s AI conversation is no longer “future tense”
For India’s story of artificial intelligence to shift from being told as a promise signified by only a potential and immense podium of human capital and scale of ambitions yet always just out of reach of an inflection point, this February shapes up to be different as global bets are called off across different platforms and private rooms get filled up.
And if the trip happens, Altman’s timing will say as much as any keynote: the next phase of AI will be shaped not only in Silicon Valley boardrooms, but also in markets where adoption, regulation, and real-world deployment are colliding at speed.
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