'package alread installed' in a newly created conda environment in wsl

I created a new, empty conda environment:

$ conda create --name openai_test

I activate it:

(base) $ conda activate openai_test

Then try to install a package:

(openai_test) $ pip install openai

but I get:

(openai_test) $ pip install openaiDefaulting to user installation because normal site-packages is not writeableRequirement already satisfied: openai in ./lib/python3.11/site-packages (0.27.9)Requirement already satisfied: requests>=2.20 in ./lib/python3.11/site-packages (from openai) (2.31.0)Requirement already satisfied: tqdm in ./lib/python3.11/site-packages (from openai) (4.65.0)...

Why? I just created a brand new environment so how come everything is 'already satisfied'?

Another thing I noticed is when I check for the pip location after activating the environment:

(openai_test) $ which pip

I get:

/

home/<user-name>/.local/bin/pip

Is this correct? Shouldn't pip be pointing to the conda installation directory?