OpenAI is moving into higher education as India seeks to expand its AI skillset

OpenAI is expanding its presence in India and moving into the country’s higher education system through partnerships with leading academic institutions. The move comes as the South Asian country seeks to scale up AI skills and build local capabilities in one of the world’s largest talent markets.

On Wednesday, OpenAI said it has partnered with six public and private higher education institutions in India, including top specialist institutes in engineering, management, medicine and design, with the aim of reaching more than 100,000 students, faculty and staff over the next year.

Rather than focusing on consumer use, the initiative focuses on integrating AI into core academic functions, signaling OpenAI’s interest in influencing how AI is taught, managed, and normalized within one of the world’s largest higher education systems.

OpenAI has already built a large consumer audience for its ChatGPT chat software, which has more than 100 million monthly active users in India, according to CEO Sam Altman, and India has emerged as the company’s second-largest user base after the United States. The announcement also coincides with a broader push by leading AI companies to deepen their presence in India, which is hosting the AI ​​Impact Summit in New Delhi this week.

The first group of partners includes some of India’s most influential academic institutions, such as the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, along with private universities and specialist design schools. The ChatGPT maker said the partnerships will span disciplines ranging from engineering and management to healthcare and creative fields.

India has already emerged as a major testing ground for the use of AI in education. Last month, Google said India accounts for the highest global usage of its Gemini tools for learning. Likewise, Microsoft said this week that it will expand its Elevate Skills program in India to train teachers in schools, vocational institutes and higher education institutions, working with government agencies as part of a broader drive to build AI skills at scale.

OpenAI said the partnerships will include campus-wide access to ChatGPT Edu tools, faculty training, and responsible use frameworks. The company said the focus is on integrating AI into core academic workflows such as programming, research, analytics and case analysis, rather than providing standalone access to the tools.

Two of the partner institutions, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and Manipal Academy of Higher Education, will also offer certificates powered by OpenAI. Additionally, OpenAI said it will work with Indian edtech platforms, including Physics Wallah, upGrad, and HCL GUVI, to expand AI training beyond campus. These platforms will launch curated courses on AI basics and ChatGPT use cases, targeting students and early-career professionals.

Raghav Gupta, head of education at OpenAI India, said educational institutions were a “critical path” to bridging the gap between rapidly advancing AI tools and how people actually use them, as skill requirements shift across the economy.

Last year, OpenAI appointed Gupta, former Coursera managing director for Asia Pacific, as head of learning for India and Asia Pacific, along with launching a learning accelerator program focused on expanding AI skills.

The wave of moves toward education underscores how AI companies are increasingly looking beyond consumer tools and enterprise customers toward institutions that shape skills, standards and long-term adoption. For countries like India, the competition is not just about access to AI, but also over who helps define how it is taught, managed and integrated at scale.