OpenAI faces legal and competitive pressures in India, with local publishers accusing it of unauthorized content use.
OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, plans to set up its first Indian office in New Delhi later this year, expanding its footprint in what is its No. 2 market by users.
The Microsoft-backed company said in a statement on Friday that it has incorporated in India and begun recruiting locally. The move is part of a broader expansion in a market it views as central to growth. The New Delhi site is slated for later this year, the company said.
India ranks among ChatGPT’s biggest user bases, and this week, OpenAI rolled out its cheapest monthly option $4.60, aimed at the country’s nearly one billion internet users.
The firm is also dealing with legal disputes in India. Several news publishers and book houses allege their material was used to train ChatGPT without permission. OpenAI 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,” CEO Sam Altman said in the statement to Reuters.
Competition is intense. Google’s Gemini and startup Perplexity have unveiled offers that provide many people in India with free access to advanced features, adding pressure on OpenAI’s lineup.
Fresh data shared on Friday shows India has ChatGPT’s largest student audience, and weekly active users in the country have risen fourfold over the past year.
India gets ChatGPT’s most affordable plan yet
On Tuesday, the company introduced ChatGPT Go, an India-only tier priced at 399 rupees ($4.57) per month, its lowest-cost plan so far. Global tech firms often set lower prices for India’s price-sensitive market, targeting the same vast online audience.
With ChatGPT Go, subscribers can send up to ten times more messages and generate ten times more images than the free service, and responses arrive faster. Higher-priced tiers increase message allowances further.
OpenAI says the plan is meant for people in India who want broader access to advanced tools at a lower price. In India, ChatGPT Pro is listed at 19,900 rupees per month, while ChatGPT Plus costs 1,999 rupees per month.
Earlier this year, Altman met the country’s IT minister to explore creating a low-cost AI ecosystem as part of efforts to boost adoption.
He has also said India is OpenAI’s second-largest market by users after the United States and could soon overtake it.
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