OpenAI to open Bengaluru and Mumbai offices as India expansion gathers pace

OpenAI has announced plans to open new offices in Bengaluru and Mumbai later this year, strengthening its presence in one of its fastest-growing markets.

The move builds on the company’s first Indian office in New Delhi, unveiled in August 2025, and forms part of a broader nationwide initiative branded “OpenAI for India”. Moneycontrol reported that the programme aims to widen access to artificial intelligence, enhance sovereign AI capabilities and accelerate enterprise and workforce transformation across the country.

Sam Altman said India was already at the forefront of global AI adoption. “With its homegrown technology talent, optimism about what AI can do for the country, and strong government support, India is well placed to help shape how democratic AI is adopted at scale,” he said, adding that the company was working to build infrastructure, skills and local partnerships “with India, for India, and in India”.

The announcement coincides with the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, where Altman is attending alongside senior OpenAI executives including chief operating officer Brad Lightcap, chief global affairs officer Chris Lehane and chief economist Ronnie Chatterji.

India has emerged as OpenAI’s second-largest market for ChatGPT, with more than 100 million weekly users spanning students, developers, educators and businesses. Globally, the chatbot has surpassed 800 million weekly users as of October 2025. Altman has previously suggested that India could become the platform’s largest market if current growth trends continue.

As part of its expansion, OpenAI is partnering with the Tata Group to build AI-ready data centre capacity tailored to domestic data residency and security requirements. Under the collaboration, OpenAI will become the first customer of Tata Consultancy Services’ HyperVault data centre business, beginning with 100 megawatts of capacity and with potential to scale up to one gigawatt over time.

The infrastructure, developed under OpenAI’s global Stargate initiative, is intended to allow advanced AI models to operate within India, reducing latency and meeting compliance standards for sensitive and government-related workloads.

Tata Group also plans to roll out ChatGPT Enterprise across its workforce in phases, beginning with hundreds of thousands of TCS employees. TCS is expected to adopt OpenAI’s Codex tools to standardise AI-native software development practices across teams.

OpenAI has recently struck partnerships with a range of Indian firms, including JioHotstar, Eternal (the parent company of Zomato), Pine Labs, Cars24, HCLTech, PhonePe, Cred and MakeMyTrip. Pine Labs said it is integrating OpenAI’s application programming interfaces into its payments infrastructure to advance what it describes as “agentic commerce”.

Beyond corporate adoption, OpenAI is expanding its skilling initiatives in India. TCS will become the first organisation outside the United States to participate in OpenAI Certifications, a programme designed to equip professionals with practical AI skills applicable across industries.

The company has also entered partnerships with leading educational institutions such as IIM Ahmedabad, AIIMS New Delhi, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies and Pearl Academy. More than 100,000 ChatGPT Edu licences will be provided under these collaborations to help students develop workforce-relevant AI capabilities.

In October, OpenAI offered a one-year complimentary subscription to its entry-level ChatGPT Go tier for users in India, underscoring its efforts to accelerate adoption in the world’s second-largest internet market.