Sam Altman | Narendra Modi: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi

“great conversation with @narendramodi discussing india’s incredible tech ecosystem and how the country can benefit from ai. really enjoyed all my meetings with people in the @PMOIndia.,” read Altman’s tweet.

Altman’s meeting with Modi could be crucial as countries around the world are looking at tightening regulations around AI. The OpenAI founder has been on a meeting spree with world leaders amid the heightened debate around regulating AI companies.

Replying to the OpenAI CEO’s tweet, Prime Minister Modi wrote: “Thank you for the insightful conversation @sama. The potential of AI in enhancing India’s tech ecosystem is indeed vast and that too among the youth in particular. We welcome all collaborations that can accelerate our digital transformation for empowering our citizens.”

At an event organised by The Economic Times in New Delhi on Wednesday, Altman spoke about the need for regulation of bigger players, including OpenAI. He added that smaller companies and startups should be allowed to operate unregulated as it is important to let them flourish.

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Governments across the world, Altman said, must think about regulating bigger companies such as OpenAI and Google in a way that doesn’t slow innovation and impede the positive economic benefits that could flow from AI.

“We have explicitly said there should be no regulations on smaller companies or on the current open source models — it’s important to let that flourish,” he said at the ET Conversations event in the capital on Wednesday. “The only regulation we have called for is (on) people like ourselves or bigger.” He was in a discussion with Times Internet vice chairman Satyan Gajwani.

Altman, who was previously president of Silicon Valley’s famed Y Combinator accelerator, said he’s cognisant of the advantages and dangers of OpenAI, including potential misuse by dictators leading to serious geopolitical implications. He pointed out that generative AI will need more regulation, drawing parallels with nuclear power and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).