India Has 100M Weekly Active ChatGPT Users, Sam Altman Says

Why It Matters

The scale of Indian usage positions the country as a pivotal growth engine for OpenAI and influences global AI policy discussions, while highlighting monetization challenges in emerging markets.

Key Takeaways

• India reaches 100M weekly ChatGPT users.
• OpenAI offers sub-$5 tier, free year for India.
• Students drive largest ChatGPT usage globally.
• OpenAI plans new government partnerships in India.
• AI summit gathers global tech and political leaders.

Pulse Analysis

India’s rapid adoption of ChatGPT reflects a convergence of demographic advantage and digital connectivity. With over a billion internet users and a youthful population, the country offers a fertile ground for AI services. OpenAI’s decision to establish a New Delhi office in 2025 and to launch a sub‑$5 Go tier—later made free for a year—demonstrates a localized approach that balances affordability with market penetration. This strategy not only boosts user numbers but also positions OpenAI as a preferred AI partner in a price‑sensitive environment.

Student engagement is a decisive factor in the platform’s growth trajectory. Indian learners constitute the world’s largest cohort of ChatGPT users, a trend mirrored by rivals such as Google, which recently granted a free year of its AI Pro plan to Indian students. The educational sector’s appetite for generative AI tools fuels daily active usage and creates a pipeline for future professional adoption. By embedding AI into curricula and research, OpenAI and its competitors are shaping the next generation of AI‑savvy talent, reinforcing India’s role as a talent hub for the global tech ecosystem.

The broader implications extend to policy and economic impact. The India AI Impact Summit, drawing CEOs, ministers, and international leaders, underscores the nation’s ambition to influence AI governance and democratize access. Government initiatives like the IndiaAI Mission aim to expand computing capacity and support startups, yet monetizing such massive user bases remains a challenge. OpenAI’s hinted partnerships with the Indian government could bridge infrastructure gaps, accelerate public‑sector AI deployment, and set precedents for how multinational AI firms collaborate with emerging economies, ultimately shaping the global AI landscape.

India has 100M weekly active ChatGPT users, Sam Altman says

By Jagmeet Singh · Boston, MA · June 23, 2026

India has 100 million weekly active ChatGPT users, making the country one of OpenAI’s largest markets globally, CEO Sam Altman said ahead of a government‑hosted AI summit.

On Sunday, Altman outlined ChatGPT’s growing adoption in India in an article published in the Indian English daily Times of India, as OpenAI prepares to formally participate in the five‑day India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, beginning Monday. Altman is attending the event alongside senior executives from several of the world’s leading AI companies.

The growth comes as OpenAI, like other leading AI firms, looks to India’s young population and its more than a billion internet users to fuel global expansion. The ChatGPT maker opened a New Delhi office in August 2025 after months of groundwork in the country, and has adjusted its approach for India’s price‑sensitive market, including rolling out a sub‑$5 ChatGPT Go tier that was later made free for a year for Indian users.

In the article, Altman said India is ChatGPT’s second‑largest user base after the United States, highlighting the South Asian nation’s growing weight in OpenAI’s global strategy. The disclosure comes as ChatGPT’s overall usage has surged worldwide, with the platform reaching 800 million weekly active users as of October 2025 and reported to be approaching 900 million.

Altman also highlighted the role of students in driving adoption, saying India has the largest number of student users of ChatGPT globally.

Indian students have become a key growth segment for leading AI companies more broadly, as rivals race to embed their tools in classrooms and learning workflows. Google has similarly targeted the market, offering Indian students a free one‑year subscription to its AI Pro plan in September 2025. Separately, India accounts for the highest global usage of Gemini for learning, Google’s vice president and general manager for education Chris Phillips said last month.

“With its focus on access, practical AI literacy, and the infrastructure that supports widespread adoption, India is well positioned to broaden who benefits from the technology and to help shape how democratic AI is adopted at scale,” Altman wrote.

ChatGPT’s rapid growth also highlights a broader challenge for AI companies in India: translating widespread adoption into sustained economic impact. Indian government initiatives such as the IndiaAI Mission — a national program aimed at expanding computing capacity, supporting startups and accelerating AI adoption in public services — seek to address those gaps. However, the country’s price‑sensitive market and infrastructure constraints have made monetization and large‑scale deployment more complex than in developed economies.

“Given India’s size, it also risks forfeiting a vital opportunity to advance democratic AI in emerging markets around the world,” Altman wrote, warning that uneven access and adoption could concentrate AI’s economic gains in too few hands.

Altman also signaled that OpenAI plans to deepen its engagement with the Indian government, writing that the company would soon announce new partnerships aimed at expanding access to AI across the country. He did not provide details, but said the focus would be on widening reach and enabling more people to put AI tools to practical use.

The India AI Impact Summit is expected to draw a wide cross‑section of global technology and political leaders, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Sundar Pichai of Google, and senior 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, spotlighting India’s ambition to position itself as a central player in global AI debates.

For global AI firms, including OpenAI, the summit underscores how India’s vast user base is translating into growing influence over how the technology evolves.

OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment.

Jagmeet covers startups, tech‑policy‑related updates, and all other major tech‑centric developments from India for TechCrunch. He previously worked as a principal correspondent at NDTV.

You can contact or verify outreach from Jagmeet by emailing [email protected].