OpenAI Mulls Setting Up 1 GW Data Centre In India

Amid its India push, ChatGPT parent OpenAI is reportedly looking to set up a data centre in India.

Citing sources, Bloomberg reported that the company is currently looking for local partners to set up the data centre which would have at least 1 GW capacity.

The location and the timeline for setting up the data centre are not final yet. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is likely to make the announcement about the data centre during his upcoming visit to India.

Inc42 has reached out to OpenAI for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on its response. 

The report said the new facility will be a major push for OpenAI’s AI infrastructure, ‘Startgate’, in Asia. 

The development comes at a time when OpenAI is set to open its first India office in Delhi NCR later this year. With this expansion, OpenAI aims to support the Indian government’s IndiaAI Mission and partnering with the Centre for “building AI for India with India”.

“We are opening our first office in India later this year! And I’m looking forward to visiting next month. AI adoption in India has been amazing to watch – ChatGPT users grew 4X in the past year – and we are excited to invest much more in India!” Altman said in a recent post on X.

AI Giants Bet Big On Indian Market 

With the rapid adoption of AI models, India has emerged as one of the important markets for AI giants. 

Recently, Altman said that India is the second largest market in the world for the company after the US, and has the potential to become the largest market. 

As a result, AI companies are making efforts to onboard Indian users. Recently, Google announced a free upgrade to Gemini AI Pro for all Indian students. Meanwhile, Perplexity announced a partnership with Airtel last month, offering its Pro version, which has an annual subscription charge of INR 17,000, for free to the telecom operator’s customers. 

OpenAI, too, launched a new subscription plan in India called ChatGPT Go. Priced at just INR 399 per month, the plan has been rolled out as an India-only option and can be purchased via UPI.

OpenAI is also partnering with schools and colleges in India to offer a copilot-like experience for students and teachers. Last week, the AI giant invited leading institutions, universities, edtech startup founders, and well-known educators to a small gathering in Delhi where its plans for education and the leadership for the Indian education vertical were the main agenda. 

Meanwhile, last week, Reliance Industries announced partnerships with Meta and Google to increase AI adoption in India. Reliance also announced the incorporation of wholly owned AI subsidiary, Reliance Intelligence.