Puch AI co-founder and CEO Siddhart Bhatia’s recent post taking a subtle dig at Sam Altman-led OpenAI’s debut in India went viral on Elon Musk’s X/Twitter. For the unversed, the ChatGPT maker AI firm is opening its first India office in New Delhi. The company has also started hiring for its desi headquarters.
Per reports, Sheeladitya Mohanti, an ex-Meta AI executive, has been appointed the marketing lead for OpenAI India. OpenAI’s India move comes two years after 2023 when Sam Altman remarked on the country’s capability of making anything remotely like ChatGPT. Altman later clarified that his comments were taken out of context. The context was a $10 million budget! How about a desi AI firm worth a mere $50 million taking on the $500 billion-worth San Francisco-based AI giant?
Bhatia in his X/Twitter post shared a signage from the Times Square with an #AatmaNirbharBharat message stating the following message for the Indian PM:
Dear PM Modi, Why applaud OpenAI expanding in India? Let’s celebrate Puch AI coming to New York.”
The netizens found the statement to be pretty bold, when the likes of Ola Krutrim haven’t made a dent like how Chinese AI DeepSeek did in weeks, scaring the Big Tech. However, the need of the hour has always been a home-made AI for the nation when there is a privacy risk with international firms getting hold of a wealth of Indian user data.
Meanwhile, responding to one of the users on his post, about India and AI, the Puch AI boss remarked,
“India will achieve AGI, no doubt.”
However he added a word of caution.
“But not as long as it keeps tolerating Ayush-level thinking: independent in body, yet a slave in mind.”
India will achieve AGI, no doubt. But not as long as it keeps tolerating Ayush-level thinking: independent in body, yet a slave in mind.
— Siddharth Bhatia (@siddharthb_) August 23, 2025
See Also: India Leads The World In AI-Driven Leadership Transformation
Great Job James Paul & the Team @ Mashable India tech Source link for sharing this story.
