OpenAI Sets Up Shop in India: What It Means for AI’s Future in New Delhi.

OpenAI Sets Up Shop in India: What It Means for AI’s Future in New Delhi

A Regional Breakthrough

In a landmark move, OpenAI has officially registered as a legal entity in India and is poised to open its first office in New Delhi later this year. Alongside this announcement comes active recruitment for a local team, marking a significant step forward in the company’s local expansion strategy.

OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, emphasized the importance of this development, framing it as a cornerstone in the company’s mission to “make advanced AI more accessible across the country” and to “build AI for India, and with India”.

Why India Matters

• Second-largest user base: India stands as OpenAI’s second-biggest market after the U.S., with ChatGPT usage seeing a quadrupling of weekly active users in just the past year.

• Student user growth: The country now hosts the largest population of student users engaging with ChatGPT globally.Affordable access: Also this week, OpenAI launched a $4.60/month ChatGPT plan in India—their lowest-cost subscription yet—demonstrating a concerted push toward affordability.

Competition and Challenges

Despite its bold intentions, OpenAI faces some headwinds:

• Legal hurdles: Local publishers and news outlets have raised allegations of unauthorized use of their content for training AI models—claims OpenAI denies.

• Competitive pressure: Rivals like Google’s Gemini and Perplexity are gaining traction in India, with many of their advanced offerings available free of cost—heightening the competitive stakes.

What the New Delhi Office Represents

• Localized innovation: With an official presence and recruitment drive underway, OpenAI is poised to develop tools and features intentionally built for Indian contexts—whether in language support, regional use-cases, or affordability.

• Stronger engagement: Establishing an on-the-ground team enables deeper collaboration with Indian users, developers, educational institutions, startups, and policymakers.

• Strategic foundation: The office could serve as a launchpad for expanded initiatives—from partnerships and skilling programs to, potentially, infrastructure investments like data centers.

Broader Context: India’s Evolving AI Ecosystem

India is rapidly positioning itself as a global AI powerhouse:

• OpenAI Academy: Earlier in 2025, OpenAI partnered with the IndiaAI Mission under MeitY to launch the OpenAI Academy, aimed at building AI literacy across students, developers, NGOs, and educators with support for regional languages.

• AI infrastructure: OpenAI is already in early-stage talks with Indian authorities to collaborate on building local data center capacity under its "OpenAI for Countries" initiative.

• India’s AI push: The national AI ecosystem is expanding through government-backed initiatives like AI Compute infrastructure (AIKosha), AI Data Banks, and the IndiaAI Mission—supporting everything from AI startups to safe, ethical deployment of generative models.

Final Thoughts

OpenAI’s arrival in New Delhi heralds a new chapter in AI development in India. It signals a transition from mere user adoption to deeper integration and innovation—with potential ripple effects across education, enterprise, and policy. With its new office, OpenAI isn’t just entering India—it’s betting on building with and for India.