Decoding Budget 2025, and Sam Altman comes to India

Mint Techcetra

In this episode, Shouvik and Leslie dive into the much-talked-about topic the Union Budget and its big promises for India’s tech and AI industry. The government’s push for a semiconductor ecosystem and focus on foundational models get a nod, but the hosts are quick to warn against lofty goals of building everything from scratch. Drawing parallels to India’s earlier struggles in the mobile industry, where a lack of a component ecosystem held back progress, they stress the importance of learning from those mistakes. It’s not just about self-reliance but finding the sweet spot between local efforts and working with global leaders to truly drive innovation.

The second half shifts to Sam Altman’s visit to India, which they call a defining moment for OpenAI’s strategy. It started with Sam Altman dismissing India’s potential earlier this year, saying don’t even try foundational models. Now, cut to today, he’s hailing India as OpenAI’s second-largest market, Altman’s change in tone says a lot. The visit highlighted India’s rising role in global tech, with its R&D capabilities and startup energy making it hard to ignore. our hosts explore how OpenAI’s plans to localize operations, build teams, and tap into the Indian market show that global tech giants are now betting big on India’s ability to shape the future of technology.

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