Think global, act local

OpenAI's bold bet on India is welcome but the future of AI in India will not be won on pricing alone

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PENAI'S LAUNCH OF the India-specific GPT-Go is a bold move to unlock the Indian market and a calculated bet on the country becoming the proving ground for scalable artificial intelligence (AI) deployment in other countries in the Global South. OpenAI's playbook for its second-largest market, however, is not an original composition—rolling out a budget plan with clear advantages over the free tier and pricing has been a familiar model for many successful global companies operating in India.

OpenAI's reported talks with Jio to bundle ChatGPT access (much like Perplexity with Airtel) underline how global firms often rely on local partners to gain momentum. McDonald's, for instance, entered India in 1996 and now runs over 500 outlets, posting 7% year-on-year revenue growth (₹660 crore) in the first quarter of FY26. After reducing its prices substantially, Netflix, which entered in 2016, saw India lead paid subscriber additions in Q2 FY24 and rank third globally for revenue growth.