OpenAI CEO advocates 'Democratic AI' approach in India, eyes expansion and Govt partnerships

OpenAI Eyes India as Strategic Growth Hub

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman has positioned India as a cornerstone of the company's global expansion strategy, unveiling ambitious plans to deepen the organization's presence in the country through increased staffing, infrastructure investments, and collaborative government partnerships. Speaking ahead of the India AI Impact Summit at New Delhi's Bharat Mandapam, Altman emphasized that India has transcended its role as merely a consumer of artificial intelligence tools and now possesses the foundational elements to become a leader in AI development itself. The company opened its first Delhi office in August 2025 and intends to substantially expand its headcount and footprint throughout the year, signaling a major commitment to the Indian market that reflects broader industry trends of seeking growth opportunities in the Global South.

The strategic shift comes at a moment when India's significance to OpenAI cannot be overstated. The country has emerged as the company's second-largest user base globally, trailing only the United States, with approximately 100 million people accessing OpenAI's tools on a weekly basis. Among these users, students represent the largest demographic worldwide on ChatGPT, underscoring the platform's deep penetration into India's educational ecosystem. Additionally, India ranks among the top countries utilizing Prism, OpenAI's collaborative research tool, demonstrating the breadth of the company's engagement across different user segments and use cases.

The Democratic AI Vision and Three-Pillar Framework

At the heart of Altman's India strategy lies a comprehensive vision for what he terms "Democratic AI," a concept grounded in the belief that artificial intelligence should serve as a tool for broad-based economic and social advancement rather than concentrating benefits among a privileged few. Recognizing what Altman describes as a "capability overhang"—a situation where access to AI tools exists but the skills to deploy them effectively do not—the OpenAI leadership has articulated a structured three-part approach designed to systematically address this gap and ensure equitable AI adoption across Indian society.

The first pillar focuses on "Access," emphasizing that AI tools must be universally available to all individuals regardless of their income level, educational background, or prior familiarity with technology. OpenAI has already begun implementing this principle by offering its tools free of charge to users in India, including a free year of the ChatGPT Go tier specifically tailored for the Indian market's price-sensitive consumers. The second pillar, termed "Adoption," aims to integrate AI into critical institutional settings including schools, healthcare clinics, and small businesses, enabling these entities to harness AI's potential to improve outcomes and efficiency. The third pillar, "Agency," seeks to empower individuals with the confidence, knowledge, and practical skills required to leverage AI effectively for decision-making processes and innovation initiatives.

AI will help define India's future, and India will help define AI's future, and it will do so in a way only a democracy can.

Ground-Level Engagement and Government Partnerships

OpenAI's commitment to India extends beyond corporate expansion into substantive community engagement and institutional development. The company recently trained over 200 nonprofit leaders across four Indian cities in utilizing ChatGPT to enhance their organizational effectiveness and expand their social impact. This initiative reflects a deliberate strategy to embed AI literacy and capability throughout India's civil society sector, recognizing that nonprofits often serve as crucial intermediaries between advanced technology and underserved populations.

Looking forward, Altman confirmed his intention to visit India for the summit and indicated that significant announcements regarding new partnerships with the Indian government would follow. These collaborations are expected to align with the IndiaAI Mission, an ambitious government initiative backed by substantial financial commitments designed to strengthen India's sovereign computational capacity and develop multilingual AI applications tailored to address challenges in healthcare and agriculture—sectors that directly impact hundreds of millions of Indians. The convergence of OpenAI's expansion ambitions with India's strategic AI development initiatives suggests a mutually beneficial partnership framework capable of generating substantial economic and social value.

The broader context underscores India's rising importance in global AI discourse. The country generates nearly one-fifth of the world's data, maintains the second-largest AI workforce globally, and boasts over 700 million internet users. For multinational AI companies investing billions in research and development, India's massive service economy and enormous addressable market represent compelling investment opportunities. Microsoft, for instance, has committed a record $17.5 billion over four years to expand AI infrastructure specifically in India, marking its largest-ever investment in any Asian market and demonstrating sector-wide recognition of India's strategic importance.

The India AI Impact Summit itself underscores this global recognition, bringing together more than 40 technology CEOs, 20 heads of state, and commitments for approximately $100 billion in investment. This five-day gathering, organized around three thematic pillars addressing People, Planet, and Progress, represents the first major global AI summit hosted in the Global South and signals a deliberate effort to ensure that AI's future development incorporates perspectives and priorities from the emerging markets that comprise the majority of the world's population. OpenAI's prominent participation and Altman's advocacy for democratic AI principles reflect the company's strategic positioning within these evolving global conversations.

As India positions itself at the center of global AI debates and development, OpenAI's expansion and partnership commitments represent a significant validation of the country's potential while simultaneously establishing a framework through which advanced AI capabilities can be distributed more equitably. The success of this initiative will substantially influence how artificial intelligence develops and deploys across the Global South, potentially establishing precedents for responsible and inclusive AI advancement that transcend national boundaries.