Why former OpenAI researcher Shyamal Anadkat left Silicon Valley for India

4 min readNew DelhiJun 22, 2026 04:30 PM IST

During his time at OpenAI, Anadkat shared that he led the company’s Applied Evals team (Photo: X)

Shyamal Anadkat, a former researcher at OpenAI, announced that he has moved back to India after spending nearly four years working in the San Francisco Bay Area. Anadkat opened up about how globally significant artificial intelligence institutions can be built outside Silicon Valley.

In a post shared on X, Anadkat revealed that he left OpenAI earlier this year and relocated to India, where he has since been engaging with researchers, engineers, and entrepreneurs across the country and the wider Asia-Pacific region.

“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,” Anadkat wrote.

During his time at OpenAI, Anadkat shared that he led the company’s Applied Evals team, which focuses on evaluating and improving the performance and safety of AI systems. He then worked out of OpenAI’s Bay Area office during a period marked by rapid advances in generative AI technologies.

Former OpenAI researcher explains his decision to return to India

Explaining his decision to return, Anadkat said his connection to India’s technology ecosystem remained strong despite years abroad. “Having grown up here, I’ve also always felt deeply connected to the ecosystem here,” he wrote.

Since returning, he said he has spent weeks speaking with researchers and innovators across India and APAC. He shared that those conversations convinced him that there is growing momentum among people who want to shape the future of AI from within the region itself.

“Over the past several weeks, I’ve been speaking with researchers, engineers, and thinkers across India and APAC. It’s become clear that there are many who want to build the future from here,” Anadkat wrote.

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He further acknowledged that many in the technology industry may still view a move away from Silicon Valley as unconventional, particularly for professionals working at the cutting edge of AI research. However, Anadkat argued that this perception is beginning to change. “Moving back felt like the counterintuitive choice. I no longer think that’s true,” he wrote.

Anadkat revealed that the primary challenge facing India’s AI ecosystem is not a lack of talent or opportunity, but a shortage of belief that globally influential institutions can emerge from outside traditional technology hubs.

“What’s been missing is the belief that you can build institutions of global consequence from anywhere. And more importantly, the ambition and the will to pursue ideas that seem impossibly large at first,” he wrote.

Calling the current moment in AI development a “once-in-a-generation opportunity,” Anadkat suggested that India could play a larger role in shaping the future of artificial intelligence if it embraces long-term ambition and institution-building.

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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

The post has since gone viral, garnering a deluge of reactions. “This is the right move, because India deserves to be the primary beneficiary of its intellectual capital. India is the future. I had the privilege of visiting and opening a company there and Im excited about the possibilities and opportunities,” a user wrote.

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“You can probably build from anywhere. But you can sell only from somewhere,” another user commented. “Moved a couple of years back for the same reasons. Have been trying a few things and trying more. Happy to connect and engage,” a third user reacted.