Open AI CEO Sam Altman speaks at the annual Snowflake Summit in San Francisco, California on June 02, 2025.
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OpenAI is quickly increasing its presence in India — one in every of the key markets for its flagship ChatGPT product.
India is an interesting vacation spot for U.S. tech giants, with corporations starting from Google to Meta betting on its big — and younger — inhabitants over current years.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman visited the country in February this yr and met with the country’s IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to debate collaboration. During the go to, Altman stated India was OpenAI’s second-largest market by variety of customers.
He has subsequently stated that AI adoption in India is “amazing to watch.”
“We love to see the explosion of creativity–india is outpacing the world,” he said on X earlier this yr.
India is one in every of ChatGPT’s fastest-growing markets globally, Nick Patience, apply lead for AI at tech analysis and evaluation agency Futurum Group, advised CNBC. “OpenAI’s India focus is a strategic move to gain a competitive edge,” he added.
Here’s a rundown of how OpenAI is increasing in India.
ChatGPT explosion
ChatGPT, OpenAI’s core product, has seen sturdy development in India. The app was downloaded 10.2 million occasions in India in August, an enormous soar from the 2.5 million downloads seen throughout the identical month final yr, in line with analytics agency Appfigures.
Since its launch, ChatGPT has 111 million downloads in India, forward of its 80 million downloads in the U.S, Appfigures information reveals.
Downloads don’t essentially equal every day or month-to-month customers, however the figures emphasise OpenAI’s development trajectory in the country.
The obtain numbers are additionally far forward of rivals, together with Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude. The closest challenger was Perplexity, Appfigures stated, which had 6.4 million downloads in August.
India-specific product
User spending on ChatGPT has been rising. To date, Indian customers have spent $21.3 million on ChatGPT, Appfigures information reveals. In comparability, U.S. customers have spent $784 million.
That underlines the incontrovertible fact that whereas the variety of customers in India is big, it stays a price-sensitive market.
To tackle this, OpenAI in August launched ChatGPT Go, a low-cost 399-rupees-($4.53)-a-month plan for its AI app.
“It’s a classic wedge strategy to capture a price-sensitive market and build a user base that will be difficult for local players to dislodge later,” Futurum Group’s Patience stated of the technique.
Infrastructure and hiring
According to Bloomberg, OpenAI is scouting a location in India for a knowledge middle with not less than 1-gigawatt capability. The facility might be a part of OpenAI’s Stargate-branded infrastructure push, Bloomberg stated this week, though CNBC was unable to confirm the report.
The ChatGPT developer stated final month that it might open a neighborhood workplace in the market and is at present promoting three gross sales roles in India.
It additionally introduced final month an schooling program in India that can embody funding for analysis and supply half one million ChatGPT licenses for educators and college students throughout the country.
India challenges
While India does not have a home-grown synthetic intelligence firm as huge as OpenAI, there are some challengers in the type of home startups, together with Sarvam AI and Krutrim, and different American tech giants like Google and Meta.
Continued geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and India over trade, nonetheless, have the potential to trigger problems if there’s any backlash from New Delhi in opposition to American tech companies.
OpenAI is additionally locked in a authorized battle with Asian News International in India, which has accused the ChatGPT developer of utilizing copyrighted materials illegally. It’s a closely-watched case in the country for the way copyright legal guidelines apply in the AI period.
“OpenAI’s success in India is not guaranteed and depends heavily on its ability to navigate these legal and political hurdles,” Futurum Group’s Patience stated.
“While the Indian market is vast, its diversity in languages and user needs presents challenges. OpenAI’s ability to deliver a truly localized product and its long-term impact on India’s AI talent remain uncertain.”