India’s largest B2B marketplace IndiaMART, has moved the Calcutta High Court against OpenAI, alleging that ChatGPT has selectively excluded the company from AI-generated search responses, causing reputational and commercial harm. The case, which raises questions around AI accountability and algorithmic bias, was heard by Justice Ravi Krishna Kapur on Friday.
While the court refused to grant immediate relief to IndiaMART without hearing from OpenAI and other respondents, it made a strong prima facie observation that IndiaMART appeared to have been excluded “without any logic”, giving the dispute wider significance beyond the parties involved.
Overview of the case
In its petition, IndiaMART has alleged that ChatGPT “specifically and consciously” chose to not mention the platform in responses where comparable B2B marketplaces were referenced.
According to the company, this exclusion was not accidental but the result of ChatGPT’s mechanical reliance on a report by the United States Trade Representative (USTR), without any independent evaluation or opportunity of hearing.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) is a US government agency that develops and enforces American trade policy and publishes annual reports reviewing global trade and intellectual property practices.
These reports assess whether countries or companies adequately protect intellectual property and market access from a US perspective. While influential internationally, USTR findings are not legally binding outside the US.
Through their petition, IndiaMart sought a declaration that the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) reviews containing the findings against IndiaMART were not binding on ChatGPT and couldn’t exclude its website and listings from the search results generated on AI engines.
Court’s observation
In its initial observations, the High Court said IndiaMART had made out a strong prima facie case of selective discrimination as it deemed GPT’s exclusion to be an illogical exercise.
“It prima facie appears that the petitioner is being selectively discriminated against and justifiably excluded without any logic. Inevitably, there is a loss of goodwill, reputation, and commercial injury, which is being caused to the petitioner,” Justice Krishna observed.
Despite the acknowledgement of commercial injury being caused to the company through suppressed visibility on search engines, the court declined to grant ad-interim relief, observing that such an order would amount to granting final relief without hearing OpenAI and other respondents, as reported by LiveLaw.
The case, filed by IndiaMART InterMesh Limited against OpenAI Inc and others, will now proceed for a detailed hearing on 13 January 2026, with the High Court expected to examine the limits of AI-driven decision-making and platform accountability in India.
The dispute raises larger and unresolved questions about wider aspects of modern AI governance of the open commercial webspace and whether AI platforms rely on foreign government reports to determine visibility of Indian businesses.
