August 22, Friday:
OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, is set to make a significant leap into India with its first office scheduled to be in New Delhi by the end of this year. The move reflects the AI giant's commitment to one of its fastest-growing sectors.
So far, OpenAI has only a single employee from India- Pragya Misra, who leads on public policy and partnerships. A hiring spree has begun, with sales positions already being advertised as per Bloomberg. The action is intended to provide OpenAI a broader regional presence and strengthen ties with companies and policymakers.
Partnership with India AI Mission
One of the significant pieces of this initiative is a partnership with the government's India AI Mission, a ₹ 1.2 billion project to develop regional language models and build AI infrastructure.
ChatGPT Go Plan
With the growth, Open AI introduced a new paid plan- ChatGPT Go at ₹399 per month. The plan provides Indian users up to 10 times more messages, file uploads, and image creation than the free version, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
OpenAI’s next market
India is already OpenAI’s second-largest user base after the United States. According to Reuters, weekly active users have quadrupled in the past year. With a growing audience, government backing, and a focus on affordability, experts say India could soon become OpenAI’s biggest market.
By opening a local office, recruiting locally, and providing a low-cost subscription, OpenAI is betting on India's tech talent and digitally literate young population to fuel its next growth phase.