India has 100 million active ChatGPT users, making the country one of the largest markets for OpenAI in the world, CEO Sam Altman said ahead of a government-hosted AI conference.
On Sunday, Altman highlighted the growing adoption of ChatGPT in India in an article published in India’s English-language daily Times of India, as OpenAI prepares to officially participate in the five-day India AI Impact Conference in New Delhi, starting Monday. Altman attended the event along with senior executives from several of the world’s leading AI companies.
The growth comes as OpenAI, like other leading AI companies, looks to India’s young population and its billion-plus internet users to fuel global expansion. The maker of ChatGPT opened a New Delhi office in August 2025 after months of work in the country, and has made its way into the Indian market with no regard for prices, including the release of the sub-$5 ChatGPT Go tier that was released for a year to Indian users.
In this article, Altman said that India is the second largest user base for ChatGPT after the United States, highlighting the growing weight of the South Asian country in OpenAI’s global strategy. The disclosure comes as overall use of ChatGPT has skyrocketed globally, with the platform reaching 800 million active users as of October 2025 and reportedly approaching 900 million.
Altman also highlighted the role of students in educating children, saying that India has the largest number of students using ChatGPT in the world.
India’s students have become a key part of the growth of leading AI companies in the wider field, as competitors rush to embed their tools in classrooms and learning workflows. Google has similarly targeted the market, offering Indian students a one-year free subscription to its AI Pro program through September 2025. Separately, India accounts for the world’s highest use of Gemini in education, Chris Phillips, Google’s vice president and general manager of education, said last month.
“With a focus on access, active AI learning, and the infrastructure that supports mass adoption, India is well-positioned to expand who benefits from the technology and help shape how democratized AI is adopted at scale,” Altman wrote.
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ChatGPT’s rapid growth also highlights a broader challenge for AI companies in India: translating widespread adoption into sustainable economic impact. Indian government initiatives such as the IndiaAI Mission – a national program aimed at increasing computing capacity, supporting startups and accelerating the adoption of AI in public services – seek to address those gaps. However, the country’s price-sensitive markets and infrastructure constraints have made monetization and distribution in large areas more difficult than in developed games.
“Given India’s size, it also risks missing a significant opportunity to advance democratization of AI in emerging markets around the world,” Altman wrote, warning that uneven access and adoption could concentrate AI’s economic benefits in too few hands.
Altman also signaled that OpenAI plans to deepen its engagement with the Indian government, writing that the company will soon announce new partnerships aimed at increasing access to AI across the country. He did not provide details, but said the focus will be on increasing access and allowing more people to use AI tools to use them.
The India AI Impact Summit is expected to draw a cross-section of global technology and political leaders, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Google’s Sundar Photosi, and top Indian business figures such as Mukesh Ambani and Nandan Nilekani. Political leaders including Emmanuel Macron, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are also expected to attend, highlighting India’s desire to position itself as a central player in global AI discussions.
For global AI companies, including OpenAI, the conference emphasizes how many users in India interpret the growing influence of how technology evolves.
OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.
