As part of their global Stargate AI infrastructure initiative, OpenAI is considering India as the location of a large-scale data centre. If this goes ahead it would mark a strategic investment in a fast-growing market.
According to Bloomberg, the ChatGPT-maker is in discussions with local partners to establish a facility with a minimum capacity of 1 gigawatt in the country. While specifics on the location and timeline remain unconfirmed, sources indicated CEO Sam Altman may announce the project during a planned visit to India later this month.
The AI heavyweight has been investing in infrastructure across the world through the Stargate joint venture (JV), also involving Oracle, Nvidia and SoftBank. As part of the project, OpenAI has already committed to building large-scale facilities in the US, Norway and the United Arab Emirates.
The world’s most populous country has become a critical market for OpenAI after Altman revealed in February that India ranks as the company’s second largest market by user base, Reuters reported. Indeed, OpenAI recently announced a low-cost, India-specific subscription model for its ChatGPT platform, priced at around $5 per month to further attract users in the country.
In a post on social media platform X last month, Altman also announced plans to establish the company’s first Indian office in New Delhi, expanding its local workforce. “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”, he added.
The ChatGPT-maker recently also committed to supporting the Indian government’s $1.2 billion IndiaAI Mission, an initiative that aims to advance domestic capabilities through the development of advanced computing infrastructure and indigenous language models.
However, OpenAI’s potential expansion in the South Asian nation comes amid heightened trade tensions between India and the US. The Trump administration recently imposed a 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, currently excluding technology products, citing trade barriers and India’s energy ties with Russia.
Source: Mobile World Live
Image Credit: OpenAI
