OpenAI said Friday it will open its first office in India, choosing New Delhi as the location and targeting a launch later this year. The artificial-intelligence company has already set up a local entity and started recruiting engineers, policy specialists and partnership managers for the site, formalising its presence in its second-largest market. “Opening our first office and building a local team is an important first step in our commitment to make advanced AI more accessible across the country and to build AI for India, and with India,” Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman said in a statement. The company added that weekly active ChatGPT users in India have quadrupled over the past 12 months, with students forming the largest single user group worldwide. To convert the country’s millions of free users into paying customers, OpenAI this week introduced a local subscription called ChatGPT Go, priced at ₹399 ($4.75) a month—its lowest rate globally. The offer follows similar cut-price tiers rolled out in other emerging markets. The San Francisco-based firm will hold its first Education Summit in India later this month and plans an inaugural Developer Day in the country before year-end, aiming to deepen ties with universities, coders and start-ups. Indian Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw welcomed the decision, saying it aligns with the government’s IndiaAI mission to foster a trusted and inclusive AI ecosystem. India becomes OpenAI’s fourth outpost in Asia after Japan, Singapore and South Korea, highlighting intensifying competition among AI providers including Google, Meta and Perplexity to capture the world’s second-largest internet market.