ChatGPT Parent OpenAI To Open First-Ever India Office In New Delhi

ChatGPT parent OpenAI will open its first India office in New Delhi later this year, deepening its push in its second-largest market by user numbers.

Backed by Microsoft, the company has already established itself as a legal entity in India and has begun hiring a local team, according to a statement shared with Reuters on Friday.

India Crucial Market For OpenAI

India is seen as a critical market for OpenAI, which this week launched its cheapest subscription plan yet at $4.60 per month. The offering is aimed at nearly one billion internet users in the world’s most populous nation.

At the same time, OpenAI faces legal challenges in India, with news outlets and book publishers accusing the firm of using their content without permission to train ChatGPT. The company has denied any wrongdoing.

“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,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in the statement.

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Competition In Indian Market

Competition in the Indian market is intense, with rivals such as Google’s Gemini and AI startup Perplexity offering advanced plans for free to attract users.

India is already OpenAI’s second-largest market after the United States, and Altman recently said it may soon become the biggest. The company highlighted that India has the largest population of student users on ChatGPT, with weekly active users quadrupling in the past year.

ChatGPT Go

Alongside the office announcement, OpenAI on Tuesday introduced ChatGPT Go, a new India-only subscription plan priced at 399 rupees ($4.57) per month. This is its most affordable offering so far, designed specifically to expand access in the price-sensitive Indian market.

The ChatGPT Go plan allows users to send up to ten times more messages and generate ten times more images compared to the free version, along with faster response times. Higher-tier subscription plans offer even larger message limits.

Currently, OpenAI offers three paid tiers in India. The top-tier plan, ChatGPT Pro, is priced at 19,900 rupees per month. 

The mid-range ChatGPT Plus plan costs 1,999 rupees per month, while the newly launched ChatGPT Go plan is available at just 399 rupees per month.

Earlier this year, Altman met with IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and discussed creating a low-cost AI ecosystem, underscoring OpenAI’s long-term commitment to the country.