ChatGPT creator OpenAI is to open its first Indian office later this year, with the move to establish a presence in New Delhi deepening its push in its second-largest market by user numbers.
OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, has been established as a legal entity in India and has begun hiring a local team, the company said in a statement to Reuters on Friday.
India is a critical market for ChatGPT and it launched its cheapest monthly subscription plan of $4.60 in the country this week, aiming to attract the nearly one billion internet users in the world's most populous nation.
OpenAI faces legal challenges in India, with news outlets and book publishers accusing the company of using their content without permission to help 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," Reuters quoted OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman as saying in the statement.
The company faces strong competition in India from rivals including Google's Gemini and AI start-up Perplexity, both of which have launched products that make their advanced plans free for many users in the market.
India has the largest population of student users on ChatGPT and weekly active users in the country have quadrupled in the past year, OpenAI said in newly shared market data on Friday.
OpenAI currently has only one employee in India, Pragya Misra, who leads public policy and partnerships in the country.
A bigger presence and more staff will help OpenAI increase its partnerships with the Indian government, businesses and developers in a country known for its tech talent.
The company has committed to working with the Indian government in its $1.2 billion IndiaAI Mission, which seeks to build large and small language models for the country.
The push into India also emphasises OpenAI’s efforts to help shape early regulations in a technology that is changing rapidly. While India is a massive opportunity for global tech companies, it is also a market that has sometimes proven difficult for them to navigate, Bloomberg reported.
