OpenAI is opening its first office in India, aiming to lock in a spot in the country’s booming AI market. The company confirmed plans to launch a New Delhi corporate office and build a local team in the coming months.
The move follows recent hiring moves, including Pragya Mishra, ex-Truecaller and Meta exec, now leading public policy and partnerships in India. Rishi Jaitly, former Twitter India head, joined as a senior advisor to manage talks with the Indian government on AI rules.
India is the world’s second-largest internet and smartphone market, making it a prime battleground for AI giants. OpenAI wants to connect with local partners, businesses, developers, and academics to tailor AI tools specifically for India. 
CEO Sam Altman said:
“Opening our first office and building a local team is an important first step in our commitment to make advanced AI more accessible across the country and to build AI for India, and with India.”
The company will hold its first Education Summit in India this month and a Developer Day later this year.
OpenAI recently launched a ChatGPT plan for Indian users priced at ₹399/month ($4.75), making it the cheapest ChatGPT plan in the country. This comes after rival Perplexity teamed up with Bharti Airtel to offer Perplexity Pro to over 360 million subscribers for a year.
Challenges remain: converting free users into paid subscribers is tough in India’s price-sensitive market. Legal issues also loom. Indian news agency ANI sued OpenAI for using copyrighted news content without permission. A group of Indian publishers joined the case in January.
Indian IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw commented:
“OpenAI’s decision to establish a presence in India reflects the country’s growing leadership in digital innovation and AI adoption.”
“As part of the IndiaAI Mission, we are building the ecosystem for trusted and inclusive AI, and we welcome OpenAI’s partnership in advancing this vision to ensure the benefits of AI reach every citizen.”
OpenAI has offices in Asia including Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. Competitors like Anthropic picked Tokyo as their first Asia hub instead of India, citing challenges securing enterprise clients.
Altman noted India has:
“all the ingredients to become a global AI leader — amazing tech talent, a world-class developer ecosystem, and strong government support through the IndiaAI Mission.”
This India push signals OpenAI’s commitment to making AI a bigger part of the country’s tech future, but monetization and legal hurdles remain.
