OpenAI is expanding its footprint in India and moving into the country’s higher-education system through partnerships with leading academic institutions. The move comes as the South Asian nation seeks to scale AI skills and build domestic capacity in one of the world’s largest talent markets.
On Wednesday, OpenAI said it was partnering with six public and private higher-education institutions in India, including top engineering, management, medical, and design-focused institutes, with the aim of reaching more than 100,000 students, faculty, and staff over the next year.
Rather than focusing on consumer use, the initiative centers on integrating AI into core academic functions, signalling OpenAI’s interest in influencing how AI is taught, governed, and normalized within one of the world’s largest higher-education systems.
OpenAI has already built a large consumer audience for its ChatGPT chatbot, which has over 100 million monthly active users in India, according to CEO Sam Altman, and India has emerged as the company’s second-largest user base after the U.S. The announcement also coincides with a broader push by leading AI firms to deepen their presence in India, which is hosting an AI Impact Summit in New Delhi this week.
The first cohort of partners includes some of India’s most influential academic institutions, such as the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi, alongside private universities and specialised design schools. The ChatGPT maker said the partnerships would span disciplines ranging from engineering and management to healthcare and creative fields.
India has already emerged as a key testing ground for AI use in education. Last month, Google said India accounts for the highest global usage of its Gemini tools for learning. Microsoft, similarly, said this week it would expand its Elevate skilling program in India to train teachers across schools, vocational institutes, and higher-education settings, wor …