After Anthropic opened its first office in Bengaluru to expand its India operations, US rival OpenAI is set to expand its footprint in India with new offices in Bengaluru and Mumbai later this year. The creator of ChatGPT had already opened its office in New Delhi for expanding its India operations, and now, it will be adding two additional offices in India’s booming IT hubs.
The expansion forms a key part of “OpenAI for India”, a nationwide initiative aimed at broadening AI access, bolstering sovereign AI capabilities, and accelerating enterprise adoption and workforce transformation across sectors.
India ranks among OpenAI’s top markets, with ChatGPT boasting 100 million weekly active users, which shows the country’s rapid AI adoption driven by its vast tech-savvy population and supportive ecosystem.
Sam Altman’s vision for India’s AI journey
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman highlighted India’s unique strengths in a statement. “India is already leading the way in AI adoption, and with its homegrown tech talent, optimism about what AI can do for the country, and strong government support, it is well placed to help shape its future and how democratic AI is adopted at scale,” said Altman.
The new offices in Bengaluru (India’s Silicon Valley) and Mumbai (the financial capital) will enable closer collaboration with developers, enterprises, startups, and government partners. They aim to support localised AI development, training programs, and integration of OpenAI’s models into Indian use cases, including multilingual capabilities and enterprise solutions.
Announcement comes at strategic timing
The move aligns with India’s IndiaAI Mission and comes during the India AI Impact Summit 2026, where global leaders are discussing responsible AI governance and inclusive growth. OpenAI’s deeper engagement follows similar expansions by other AI giants like Anthropic, which recently opened an office in Bengaluru, and Google, which has been busy with ongoing investments in infrastructure and skilling.
While specific timelines, office sizes, or hiring numbers were not shared by OpenAI, the announcement signals OpenAI’s intent to invest more heavily in India, thus leveraging its talent pool to drive forward the idea of sovereign AI, enterprise transformation, and workforce upskilling.