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ChatGPT maker OpenAI is considering coming up with open-source models and is also looking at reducing the pricing of its application programming interfaces (APIs), used by startups to integrate AI into their products, CEO Sam Altman told industry executives during a meeting on Wednesday.
This comes at a time when China’s DeepSeek, with its open-source model and significantly lower-priced APIs than competitors such as OpenAI and Google’s Gemini, has disrupted the market.
In a meeting with Altman, startups raised queries on whether OpenAI will build open-source models or reduce APIs costs of its existing models. To this, the CEO said both are on the cards, a startup founder told FE.
The meeting was attended by Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Peak XV managing director Rajan Anandan, Titan Capital and Snapdeal founder Kunal Bahl, Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal, and Jio-backed Haptik’s CEO Aakrit Vaish, among others.
Open-source models are artificial intelligence models whose code is made publicly available and that allows developers to access, modify and use them without restrictions. Startups can create their own models using open-source models like DeepSeek and Meta’s Llama.
Currently, OpenAI models are closed-source and it provides access to these models via APIs for a price.
“Whether they (OpenAI) do enforce or not, there is a tremendous amount of open-source models available in the world. More than the open source, the question is the differentiators, the USPs (unique selling points), compute, price points, that will be solved with the model,” Paytm’s Sharma said.
According to him, in India, it is not a question of building a model but rather a question of building a model for a billion who can access it.
The OpenAI CEO also held discussions with startups about coming up with a support to leverage their models for Indic languages, which could give an opportunity for companies leveraging AI to tap the masses in local dialects.
Bahl said: “There is no reason that Indian startups cannot build their foundational models and at the same time focus on applications. We sit on top of these models and can monetise these models exceptionally well, not only for Indian customers, but global customers.”
On longer return cycles for deep-tech startups, the Snapdeal founder said: “It’s not necessarily. We need to look at how DeepSeek progressed and how quickly OpenAI is innovating.”
Many startups who are currently leveraging OpenAI are looking to switch to open-source models such as DeepSeek to build their own.
A recent survey by LocalCircles indicates that three out of every 10 users, or nearly 30% of AI platforms in the country, have either switched to DeepSeek or are considering to shift soon.
Tushar Vashisht, co-founder and CEO of Healthify, said: “The conversation with OpenAI was on all things ranging from technology to go-to-market, pricing, what issues startups and consumers are facing.”
“Indian consumers are ready to use AI, but they need better pricing and a better language structure. OpenAI also talked about Indic language support and how startups can leverage that,” he added.
On pricing of APIs, Akshay Gugani, founder of Expertia AI, said: “The pricing has reduced 90% year-on-year. We pay about one-tenth of what it was two years ago as models are getting commoditied.”
As more and more open-source models come up, pricing will further come down, he added.
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