OpenAI Targets India Expansion with Altman Visit, Enterprise Push and Infrastructure Plans

New updates have been reported about OpenAI.

OpenAI is intensifying its India strategy as CEO Sam Altman prepares a mid‑February trip to New Delhi for closed‑door meetings and an OpenAI‑hosted event timed alongside the India AI Impact Summit 2026. While Altman is not listed as an official summit speaker, sources say he is expected to meet senior tech executives, startup founders and government officials as OpenAI seeks to deepen enterprise adoption of ChatGPT and broaden its consumer reach in what has become its largest market by downloads and second‑largest by users. The company has been scaling its on‑the‑ground presence following its previously announced New Delhi office, with active hiring across enterprise sales, technical deployment and legal roles focused on AI regulation in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. An OpenAI event on February 19 in New Delhi, targeting venture capitalists and industry leaders, is designed to strengthen ties with India’s startup and corporate ecosystem and position the company more competitively as peers ramp up their local efforts.

Strategically, India represents both a growth market and a potential infrastructure base for OpenAI. Despite strong user traction, OpenAI has struggled to convert Indian demand into paid subscriptions, prompting the launch of a lower‑priced “ChatGPT Go” plan under $5, including a year of free access to stimulate monetization at scale. The company is also exploring India as a possible hub for AI infrastructure, although constraints around power reliability, high energy costs and water scarcity could raise operating costs and slow data‑center expansion. Altman’s visit comes as rival U.S. AI firms commit significant capital to India, announce local offices, and sign large distribution and telecom partnerships, intensifying competition for enterprise and consumer relationships. For OpenAI, the trip is a signal of intent: to secure a stronger regulatory and policy foothold, accelerate enterprise sales in sectors such as education and media, and assess whether India can become a meaningful node in its global infrastructure and revenue strategy amid the government’s ambition to attract up to $100 billion in AI investment and encourage domestic alternatives to U.S. models.