OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says India boasts 100 million weekly active ChatGPT users, ranking it among the company’s top markets globally. He shared this ahead of the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.
Altman wrote about ChatGPT’s boom in a Sunday Times of India piece as OpenAI joined the five-day event. He attended with leaders from Google, Anthropic, Nvidia and Indian tycoons like Mukesh Ambani and Nandan Nilekani. World figures including Emmanuel Macron, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan also took part.
The firm opened a New Delhi office in August 2025 to tap India’s billion-plus internet users. It launched a sub-$5 ChatGPT Go plan, later free for a year, fuelling growth to make India the second-largest user base after the U.S. Worldwide, ChatGPT hit 800 million weekly users by October 2025, nearing 900 million.
Students drive adoption, with India topping global student usage. Google offered free AI Pro subscriptions to Indian pupils last September. Its education VP Chris Phillips noted India leads in Gemini learning use.
“With its focus on access, practical Al literacy, and the infrastructure that supports widespread adoption, India is well positioned to broaden who benefits from the technology and to help shape how democratic AI is adopted at scale,” Altman wrote.
Yet mass uptake challenges firms to deliver economic impact amid cost and infrastructure barriers. The IndiaAI Mission boosts compute power and public AI use to bridge gaps.
“Given India’s size, it also risks forfeiting a vital opportunity to advance democratic AI in emerging markets around the world,” Altman wrote.
OpenAI plans deeper government ties and new partnerships for wider access. The summit cements India’s role in steering global AI.