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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is set to visit India for the second time this Wednesday. His Asia tour has already seen several product launches so far and his upcoming visit to India is expected to bring key announcements tailored to the country’s unique needs.
India, with its vast user base, is a prime candidate for simpler, more accessible ChatGPT interfaces tailored to local needs. In this light, OpenAI’s announcement last December about adding a phone-calling feature to ChatGPT is particularly exciting. It removes the need for an internet connection or high-end devices, meaning even users with basic flip phones or rotary phones will have access to AI assistance.
“1-800-ChatGPT might seem like a silly gimmick, but the underlying principle is critical to scaling AI adoption,” wrote Google Deepmind’s Logan Kilpatrick on X. If implemented well, a feature like this will be a huge win for accessibility in developing countries.
“The next billion AI users will not be on the existing UX’s, they will be using text, email, and voice,” he added, suggesting whoever lands this experience is going to win in a huge way.
A mail sent to OpenAI did not elicit any response about the specifics of the phone-calling feature’s rollout in India.
“One of the most significant advantages of such integration is its ability to empower users,” added Osama Manzar, founder and director of the Digital Empowerment Foundation.
By enabling people to create content, search for information, and share ideas, through voice commands, ChatGPT could make technology more accessible to those with limited digital literacy. This would be particularly impactful for rural and non-internet users, opening up new opportunities for learning, communication, and accessing essential services.
“However, there are critical challenges to consider. The first concern is the contextual relevance of the AI’s responses. ChatGPT’s backend systems may not always adapt well to the diverse linguistic and cultural needs of local communities,” he added, commenting that misalignment could reduce effectiveness and drive users away.
Manzar also raised concerns about data privacy, as users may unknowingly share information without understanding how it’s stored or used.
From 2008 to 2024, active SIM cards in India surged over threefold, surpassing one billion in a population of 1.4 billion, underlining the immense potential for AI adoption at scale in the country. From a regulatory perspective, OpenAI can introduce such a feature as long as it complies with the relevant data privacy laws in India.
Towards Simpler UIs?
Important to note that AI still remains a relatively new phenomenon in the country, unlike the internet. Beyond chatbots, intuitive design is key to making it accessible and human-centric.
Developing AI solutions tailored to India’s needs and cultural context is imperative.
“The key lies in leveraging existing platforms that are already deeply engaging Indian masses like WhatsApp, Google, and Facebook,” said Manzar.
Despite the success of ChatGPT, it is interesting to observe that apps such as WhatsApp and YouTube continue to be the most popular in the country.
“It is crucial to focus on how we can mine and utilise data generated on these platforms to create AI solutions that are not dominated by foreign tech giants, who might appropriate Indian content for their own benefit,” he added.
India, a Price Sensitive Country
While AI accessibility is improving, true adoption in India hinges on both usability and affordability. Simplified interfaces help, but without cost-effective pricing, AI may remain out of reach for many.
The implications of high-cost and premium pricing models for advanced tools are huge in a price-sensitive country like India.
DeepSeek is slowly changing the game for everyone, forcing the AI labs to introduce cheap and open-source alternatives or at least rethink their strategy going forward.
For instance, OpenAI now offers ChatGPT Pro at $200/month and is rumoured to introduce plans up to $2,000/month due to high compute costs of advanced models.
While economics often sees costs decrease over time. Many people responded to Altman on X, highlighting that in the current realm, $200 per month is comparable to salaries and average incomes in many economies outside the US – suggesting that AI subscription pricing cannot be the same globally. In India, for instance, the average monthly income is around ₹20,000.
This puts into perspective that AGI is accessible to the common man. essential part of daily life for many in India and worldwide. More so, as ChatGPT continues to become an essential part of many people’s lives in the country and the world, at least in the urban parts.
Interesting to note, Altman recently conceded on the future of AI ultimately being open-source. “I personally think we have been on the wrong side of history here and need to figure out a different open-source strategy,” Altman said in a recent AMA session on Reddit. “Not everyone at OpenAI shares this view,” he added.
Push for Indic LLMs
Closer home, the key question remains: Can India achieve its own free, open-source DeepSeek equivalent? More so, with a focus on Indic datasets.
Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity, urged that building a foundational model in the country is as important as building on the application layer. Much is written about how the internet is divided on this question. Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani and former People + AI head Tanuj Bojwani have advocated to really solve Indian problems through use cases.
Ola chief Bhavish Aggarwal has announced Krutrim AI Lab and the launch of several open-source AI models tailored to India’s unique linguistic and cultural landscape. This announcement aligns with India’s broader AI ambitions. The government has officially called for proposals to develop homegrown AI models, marking a decisive push toward sovereign AI that can compete globally.
Through the IndiaAI Mission, startups, researchers, and entrepreneurs are invited to build large multimodal models, large language models, and small language models, ensuring AI that is deeply rooted in India’s languages and culture. Per the website, the government expects the models must be trained on diverse Indian datasets, comply with Indian regulations, and serve both public and strategic interests
