India Leads Global ChatGPT Usage with 100M Weekly Active Users, Altman Reveals

India Leads Global ChatGPT Usage with 100M Weekly Active Users, Altman Reveals

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has confirmed that India is home to the largest number of weekly active ChatGPT users globally—surpassing 100 million—and that students constitute the dominant user segment. In a keynote address ahead of the upcoming Global AI Impact Summit 2026, Altman highlighted India’s unprecedented engagement with generative AI, calling it a "transformative force in education and digital literacy." The revelation underscores India’s rapid ascent as a global AI adoption leader, despite infrastructure and connectivity challenges in rural areas.

According to News18, Altman’s comments were made during a closed-door meeting with Indian policymakers and tech leaders, where he signaled OpenAI’s intent to deepen its presence in the country. While no formal partnership has been announced, Altman indicated that OpenAI is exploring localized AI training initiatives, partnerships with Indian universities, and potential data center investments to support the surging demand. "India isn’t just consuming AI—it’s reshaping how it’s used," Altman said. "The creativity and urgency among Indian students are unlike anything we’ve seen elsewhere."

The scale of usage is staggering. With India’s population exceeding 1.4 billion and over 400 million internet users under the age of 25, the country’s student population has embraced ChatGPT as a study assistant, language tutor, coding guide, and exam prep tool. A 2025 survey by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) found that 78% of university students use AI tools daily, with ChatGPT being the most prevalent. Many users, particularly in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, rely on the platform to bridge gaps in access to quality educational resources, often bypassing expensive tutoring services.

While Wikipedia provides a broad demographic and geographic overview of India, including its linguistic diversity and education system, it does not directly address AI adoption. However, its data on India’s youth population—over 65% under the age of 35—helps contextualize why AI tools have found such fertile ground. The country’s education system, long strained by overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages, has inadvertently become a catalyst for digital innovation. As CNN reports, Indian startups are now building AI-powered tutoring apps that integrate with ChatGPT’s API, creating hybrid learning ecosystems tailored to regional languages like Hindi, Tamil, and Bengali.

Government response has been cautious but increasingly supportive. The Ministry of Education has begun piloting AI literacy programs in 500 public schools, and the National Education Policy 2020 now explicitly encourages the ethical use of generative AI in classrooms. Meanwhile, concerns persist about misinformation, plagiarism, and digital divides. Critics warn that without robust safeguards, AI could exacerbate educational inequality. Yet, the momentum is undeniable.

OpenAI’s growing interest in India aligns with broader geopolitical trends. As Western tech firms pivot toward emerging markets amid regulatory pressures at home, India’s large, tech-savvy youth population offers both a market and a talent pool. Altman’s upcoming visit to the Global AI Impact Summit 2026—hosted in New Delhi—is expected to include announcements on localized AI models, multilingual training datasets, and potential collaborations with Indian AI startups like Niramai and Staq.

For now, India’s 100 million weekly ChatGPT users represent more than a statistic—they signal a quiet revolution in how knowledge is accessed, shared, and democratized. As Altman put it: "The future of AI isn’t just in Silicon Valley. It’s in the classrooms of Hyderabad, the dorm rooms of Patna, and the libraries of Guwahati."