“India Could Soon Become OpenAI's Largest Market,” Says Sam Altman After GPT-5 Launch

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08 Aug 2025
4 min read

News Synopsis

OpenAI has officially launched GPT-5, marking the fifth generation of the AI technology powering ChatGPT. CEO Sam Altman hailed it as the company’s “best model yet for coding and agentic tasks”, spotlighting it as a major leap forward, especially in reasoning, reliability, and accuracy. 

India’s Rapid Rise in OpenAI’s Market Strategy

At the GPT-5 media briefing, Altman underlined India’s traction in AI, noting that the country is OpenAI’s second-largest market after the US and has the potential to become its largest, thanks to “incredibly fast-growing” adoption. Calling it “quite remarkable,” he affirmed the company’s focus on local partnerships and affordability, and shared plans for an India visit in September.

Multilingual Strengths—GPT-5 Supports 12+ Indian Languages

Nick Turley, head of ChatGPT, revealed that GPT-5 significantly improves understanding across more than twelve Indian languages, including regional dialects—underscoring India's high priority for OpenAI. 

Developer Flexibility with GPT-5 Variants

GPT-5 is now available in three API variants—gpt-5, gpt-5-mini, and gpt-5-nano—offering developers a range of options to balance cost, latency, and performance. 

GPT-5 Availability Across Tiers

The rollout started on August 7, granting access to free, Plus, and Pro users, while Enterprise and Education customers will gain access soon afterward. 

About Sam Altman

Sam Altman is a prominent American entrepreneur, investor, and programmer, widely known as the CEO of OpenAI. He is considered a leading figure in the current artificial intelligence (AI) boom. Born on April 22, 1985, Altman is 40 years old as of 2025. He attended Stanford University but dropped out after two years to pursue his entrepreneurial career.

Sam Altman Career Highlights

Altman's career is marked by several key roles that have shaped the tech landscape:

  • Loopt: At 19, Altman co-founded Loopt, a location-based social networking app. The company raised over $30 million in venture capital but was ultimately acquired by Green Dot Corporation in 2012 for $43.4 million after failing to gain significant user traction.
  • Y Combinator: In 2011, he joined the prestigious startup accelerator Y Combinator as a partner. He became its president in 2014 and during his five-year tenure, he significantly expanded the organization's reach and influence, helping to fund and mentor hundreds of successful startups including Airbnb, Stripe, and Reddit.
  • OpenAI: Altman co-founded OpenAI in 2015 with a mission to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity. He left his role at Y Combinator in 2019 to become the full-time CEO of OpenAI. Under his leadership, the company launched groundbreaking products like ChatGPT and GPT-4, which brought generative AI to the mainstream. He was briefly removed from his position in November 2023 but was reinstated shortly after following pressure from employees and investors.

Other Ventures and Investments of Sam Altman

In addition to his work at OpenAI, Altman is an active investor and has a diverse portfolio of ventures:

  • Worldcoin: He co-founded Tools For Humanity, the company behind Worldcoin, a cryptocurrency and digital ID project that uses iris scanning to verify "proof of personhood."
  • Clean Energy: Altman is deeply involved in clean energy. He has served as chairman of the boards for Helion Energy, a nuclear fusion company, and Oklo Inc., a nuclear fission company.
  • Angel Investments: Through his early success, Altman has become a prolific angel investor, with stakes in numerous high-profile startups like Stripe, Reddit, and Airbnb.

Altman's leadership at OpenAI and his forward-thinking investments have solidified his status as a key figure in the technology industry, particularly in the ongoing AI revolution.

You can learn more about his life and vision in an interview on the Theo Von podcast. Sam Altman | This Past Weekend w/ Theo.

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