Sam Altman’s Cricket Jersey Image Gets Indians Talking – But Is It Just Business?
Sam Altman, the head of OpenAI, recently shared an anime-style image of himself wearing a bright blue Indian cricket jersey.
According to the BBC, this picture was created using AI (likely from ChatGPT or another tool from OpenAI). Once Altman posted it on X (formerly Twitter), it quickly went viral in India.
Cricket is a massive deal in India, and seeing someone like Sam Altman in India’s cricket gear excited many fans. But others were curious — was this just a fun post, or something more?
Some people on social media, especially from India, began wondering if Altman was trying to win over Indian users. As the BBC explained, one person joked, “Sam is trying hard to attract Indian customers.” Another asked, “How much of that $40 billion are you giving to India?” This comment referred to OpenAI’s recent huge funding.
Interestingly, Altman had just praised India’s fast adoption of AI technologies in another post, calling it “amazing” and saying India was “outpacing the world.” This made more people wonder if he had a strategy behind these social media posts. The BBC pointed out that he even retweeted Ghibli-style AI images of Indian Prime Minister Modi — another post that caught a lot of attention in India.
But not everyone is convinced that Altman’s love for India is genuine. According to the BBC, when Altman visited India in 2023, he didn’t seem too confident about Indian start-ups competing in AI. He even said it would be “totally hopeless” for a small team with a $10 million budget to build anything like OpenAI’s tools. That didn’t go down well with many Indians.
However, during his recent trip this year, Altman changed his tone. He met with a government minister and said he wants to help India build affordable AI models. He also mentioned that India is now OpenAI’s second-largest market, with users tripling in the past year.
Still, the BBC reports that OpenAI is currently in a legal dispute with Indian news companies, who claim their content was used by ChatGPT without permission. So, while Altman is praising India publicly, there are still unresolved issues behind the scenes.
Experts told the BBC that this sudden interest in India is likely because of money. India’s AI market is growing fast — expected to hit $8 billion by 2025. That’s a big opportunity for any AI company.
Technology experts like Nikhil Pahwa believe that many AI founders are now focusing on India simply because of the huge number of users. Prasanto K Roy, another tech expert, told the BBC that competitors like Google’s Gemini and Elon Musk’s Grok are also growing in India. So Altman might be trying to hold onto Indian users before they switch to cheaper AI tools.
In short, Altman’s cricket jersey photo might have looked like a friendly nod to Indian culture, but many people — and even the BBC — believe it’s part of a bigger business move.
As one expert said, “It’s not love — it’s just business.” Still, it’s clear that India’s role in the future of AI is growing fast, and global tech leaders are paying close attention.
Credit: BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2lz9r7n15do