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

On Wednesday, OpenAI said it was partnering with six public and private higher-education institutions in India, including top engineering, management, medical, and design-focused institutes, 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 centers on integrating AI into core academic functions, signaling OpenAI’s interest in influencing how AI is taught, governed, and normalized within one of the world’s largest higher-education systems.

OpenAI has already built a large consumer audience for its ChatGPT chatbot, which has over 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 U.S. The announcement also coincides with a broader push by leading AI firms to deepen their presence in India, which is hosting an AI Impact Summit in New Delhi this week.

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

India has already emerged as a key testing ground for AI use in education. Last month, Google said India accounts for the highest global usage of its Gemini tools for learning. Microsoft, similarly, said this week it would expand its Elevate skilling program in India to train teachers across schools, vocational institutes, and higher-education settings, working with government agencies as part of a broader push to build AI skills at scale.

OpenAI said the partnerships would involve campus-wide access to its ChatGPT Edu tools, faculty training, and responsible-use frameworks. The focus, the company said, is on embedding AI into core academic workflows such as coding, research, analytics, and case analysis, rather than offering standalone access to tools.

Two of the partner institutions, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and Manipal Academy of Higher Education, will also introduce OpenAI-backed certifications. Additionally, OpenAI said it would work with Indian ed-tech platforms, including Physics Wallah, upGrad, and HCL GUVI, to extend AI training beyond campuses. These platforms will launch structured courses on AI fundamentals and ChatGPT use cases, aimed at students and early-career professionals.

Raghav Gupta, head of education at OpenAI India, said educational institutions were a “critical route” to closing the gap between rapidly advancing AI tools and how people are actually using them, as skills demands shift across the economy.

Last year, OpenAI hired Gupta, a former Coursera Asia-Pacific managing director, as its India and Asia-Pacific head of education, alongside the launch of a Learning Accelerator program focused on expanding AI skills.

The flurry of moves into education underscores how AI companies are increasingly looking beyond consumer tools and corporate clients toward institutions that shape skills, norms, and long-term adoption. For countries like India, the contest is not just around access to AI, but also about who helps define how it is taught, governed, and embedded at scale.