Sam Altman Warns US Is Underestimating China's Rapid AI Progress

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, warned that China’s rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) might be underestimated by the United States, adding that the global AI race is more complicated and not limited to semiconductor export controls. In a rare on-the-record briefing, Altman stated outright that prohibiting AI chip exports is not a long-term strategy because companies can create workarounds or develop their own fabrication capabilities.

Altman noted that Chinese open-source AI models like DeepSeek are coming up rapidly, and he claimed that it has already affected how OpenAI operates. Recently, OpenAI released its own open-weight text-only models - gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b - to, in part, reduce the chance that developers globally will become too dependent on Chinese counterparts. Although these models are not as powerful as OpenAI's premium models, the goal is to establish a wide open developer ecosystem for all.

Concurrently, OpenAI is refining its India strategy, its second-largest market, with the launch of ChatGPT Go - an affordable subscription option at ₹399 per month. As a mid-tier option between its free and Plus plans, ChatGPT Go offers 10x higher message limits, more image generations, extended memory, and larger file size limits to reach India's large, bottomless digital population in a cost-sensitive way. 

Also Read: Future of Simulation Driven Innovation in Automotive Lighting Technology

This launch comes in a highly competitive landscape when rivals such as Google, Grammarly, and Perplexity have all mentioned slashing prices or offering free premium access in India. Analysts point out that affordability is key for AI take-up in a country where labour is cheap, and the gains from productivity have to be significant enough to justify paying for digital tools. 

Altman's simultaneous caution and strategic pivot suggest the two frontiers of AI, defending against geopolitical risks posed by China, while growing adoption in India which is now shaping up to be the world's most critical growth market for consumer AI services.