OpenAI CEO Sam Altman gave a recent notable interview to CNBC (specifically with Arjun Kharpal) during the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on February 19, 2026. Altman discussed several key topics related to AI development, global competition, and OpenAI’s direction.
On China’s AI progress, he described the advancements of Chinese tech companies as “remarkable” and “amazingly fast” across the entire stack (from infrastructure to models). He noted this in the context of the global race toward AGI (artificial general intelligence) and broader technology rollout.
On AI infrastructure and OpenAI’s business model, he touched on the massive compute and energy needs for AI, OpenAI’s growth trajectory, and early explorations into new revenue streams like advertising within tools such as ChatGPT. He mentioned that the company is experiencing rapid growth and focusing on accelerating it while maintaining good unit economics, with profitability planned “when it makes sense.”
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Sharing his thoughts on the industry and India, Altman expressed excitement about the energy and potential in India for AI, highlighting its talent pool, infrastructure buildout (data centers), models, and applications. He praised India’s unique momentum in the AI space, saying no other country quite matches its “energy” in building across the full AI value chain. He also commented on the incredible excitement and atmosphere at the summit.
In a separate interview, Altman also discussed similar themes, including: India’s standout role in AI development globally.
He addressed “AI washing,” where companies blame layoffs on AI that might have happened anyway, while acknowledging some “real displacement” of jobs by AI. He noted it’s a mix, with palpable changes coming.
The interview occurred amid the summit (February 19, 2026), where Altman appeared alongside other leaders like Sundar Pichai and Dario Amodei, and even had a lighthearted viral moment where he and Amodei didn’t hold hands during a group photo with Indian PM Narendra Modi (he later said he was “confused” about the instruction).