Just a few days after launching ChatGPT Go, a ₹399 (approximately $4.5 USD) per month subscription plan for customers in India, it looks like OpenAI has just begun with its expansion plans in the country. The AI company has announced that it is going to open its first office in India in the capital, New Delhi, later this year (via Reuters).
In a statement to Reuters, OpenAI 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 posted three sales jobs in India, with a local entity already set up, called OpenAI India Private Limited. Currently, there"s only a single employee in India, Pragya Misra, who joined last year and leads the public policy and partnerships in the country. Misra has previously led multiple public policy initiatives at Truecaller and Meta.
The three roles in sales show that OpenAI is pushing for GTM (go-to-market) and customer acquisition strategy rather than tech development in India. The decision to open in New Delhi, instead of Bengaluru or Hyderabad, also hints at OpenAI"s priority to engage with the Indian government.
India"s IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a statement to The Hindu,
“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."
India is ChatGPT"s second-largest market by users, and the largest population of student users on ChatGPT. The weekly active users on ChatGPT have quadrupled in the country over the last year.
OpenAI won"t be the lone player in the field, as Google Gemini and Perplexity are both pushing for massive customer acquisition by offering free Pro subscriptions for one year to Indian students. Perplexity also offers a free one-year Pro subscription to everyone who has an Airtel carrier plan on their smartphone.
The company further said that it will host its first Education Summit this month and its first Developer Day later this year in the country.