A prominent former researcher at OpenAI has revealed that he left the San Francisco Bay Area earlier this year to return to India, calling the country's rising technology ecosystem a once-in-a-generation opportunity for artificial intelligence.
Shyamal Anadkat, who spent nearly four years at the world-famous AI firm leading the Applied Evals team, shared his decision in a widely circulated post on the social media platform X. He explained that his move back home was driven by a desire to build institutions of global consequence outside traditional Silicon Valley hubs.
During his time at OpenAI, Anadkat was responsible for evaluating and improving the safety and performance of advanced artificial intelligence models. Despite working at the heart of the generative AI boom in California, he stated that he has always felt deeply connected to the technology ecosystem in India, where he grew up.
after close to four years at @openai, i moved from the bay area to india earlier this year. i still believe deeply in ensuring true superintelligence accelerates science and remains accessible and beneficial to all. having grown up here, i've also always felt deeply connected to…
— shyamal (@shyamalanadkat) June 21, 2026
Anadkat admitted that moving away from the epicenter of the global tech industry initially felt like a counterintuitive choice, but he no longer believes that to be the case. Over the past few weeks, he has been speaking with engineers, researchers, and thinkers across India and the wider Asia-Pacific region, discovering a strong collective desire to build frontline technology from within the region.
According to the tech expert, the primary element missing in the region is not talent or capability, but rather the collective confidence to pursue ideas that seem impossibly large at first. He noted that there has been a historical lack of belief that world-changing organisations can be successfully established from anywhere in the world.
While Anadkat did not disclose specific details about his next professional venture, his comments strongly suggest that a new AI project is in development. He reaffirmed his deep commitment to ensuring that true superintelligence is used to accelerate scientific progress while remaining beneficial and accessible to everyone.
Anadkat concluded his post by inviting individuals who resonate with his vision to contact him directly, promising that more details about his plans will be shared soon.
