OpenAI is expanding its presence in India by moving into the country’s higher-education system through partnerships with leading academic institutions. This move comes as the nation seeks to scale AI skills and build domestic capacity within one of the world’s largest talent markets.
The company announced partnerships with six public and private higher-education institutions in India, including top engineering, management, medical, and design-focused institutes. The aim is to reach more than 100,000 students, faculty, and staff over the next year. Rather than focusing on consumer use, this initiative centers on integrating AI into core academic functions. This signals 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 in India for its ChatGPT chatbot, which has over 100 million monthly active users according to CEO Sam Altman. India has emerged as the company’s second-largest user base after the United States. This announcement coincides with a broader push by leading AI firms to deepen their presence in India.
The first group 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 specialized design schools. The partnerships will span disciplines ranging from engineering and management to healthcare and creative fields.
India has already become a key testing ground for AI use in education. Last month, Google stated that India accounts for the highest global usage of its Gemini tools for learning. Similarly, Microsoft announced it would expand its Elevate skilling program in India to train teachers across schools, vocational institutes, and higher-education settings as part of a broader push to build AI skills at scale.
OpenAI stated the partnerships will involve campus-wide access to its ChatGPT Edu tools, faculty training, and responsible-use frameworks. The focus is on embedding AI into core academic workflows such as coding, research, analytics, and case analysis, rather than offering standalone access to tools.
Two of the partner institutions, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and Manipal Academy of Higher Education, will also introduce OpenAI-backed certifications. Additionally, OpenAI will work with Indian educational technology platforms, including PhysicsWallah, upGrad, and HCL GUVI, to extend AI training beyond campuses. These platforms will launch structured courses on AI fundamentals and ChatGPT use cases aimed at students and early-career professionals.
Raghav Gupta, head of education at OpenAI India, said educational institutions are a critical route to closing the gap between rapidly advancing AI tools and how people are actually using them as skills demands shift across the economy. Last year, OpenAI hired Gupta, a former Coursera Asia-Pacific managing director, as its India and Asia-Pacific head of education, alongside the launch of a Learning Accelerator program focused on expanding AI skills.
This series of moves into education underscores how AI companies are increasingly looking beyond consumer tools and corporate clients toward institutions that shape skills, norms, and long-term adoption. For countries like India, the contest is not just around access to AI, but also about who helps define how it is taught, governed, and embedded at scale.