OpenAI’s India Entry: KTR Rolls Out Red Carpet for Sam Altman in Hyderabad

Welcoming OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s announcement of the company’s arrival in India, BRS Working President and former Telangana IT Minister KT Rama Rao pitched Hyderabad as the “perfect gateway” for the artificial intelligence pioneer.

“Hyderabad is the ideal base for OpenAI. The city offers India’s most vibrant innovation ecosystem—THub, WEHub, TWorks, Telangana State Innovation Cell, and the Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad,” KTR wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

ChatGPT maker OpenAI on Friday (August 22) confirmed plans to open its first India office in New Delhi later this year, alongside new data highlighting the rapid adoption of its tools in the country.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman remarked, “The level of excitement and opportunity for AI in India is incredible. India has all the ingredients to become a global AI leader—amazing tech talent, a world-class developer ecosystem, and strong government support through the IndiaAI Mission.”

He stated that opening the first office and building a local team is an important first step in OpenAI’s commitment to make advanced AI more accessible across the country and to build AI for India, and with India.

KTR underlined that Hyderabad is already home to tech giants such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple, and Qualcomm, with a “deep pool of tech and startup talent” driving the city’s growth. He reminded that successive governments had made bold bets on AI, including declaring 2020 as the “Year of AI” and launching multiple AI-led initiatives.

“Hyderabad truly brings together talent, innovation, and global connectivity to power the AI revolution,” KTR added.

The San Francisco–based AI firm confirmed that it has already started hiring in India to grow its local team.

Currently, OpenAI has one employee in the country—Pragya Misra, who leads public policy and partnerships. The company has now posted three sales positions, each requiring over seven years of experience, and hinted that more roles could be added soon.

By setting up a stronger base in India, OpenAI aims to deepen its partnerships with the government, businesses, and developers. The move aligns with its commitment to support the $1.2 billion IndiaAI Mission, which focuses on building both large and small language models tailored for the region.

Recognizing India as one of its key markets, OpenAI also launched ChatGPT Go at a subscription price of ₹399 per month.

Announcing the launch on Tuesday (August 19), Nick Turley, VP and Head of ChatGPT, posted on X (formerly Twitter): “We just launched ChatGPT Go in India, a new subscription tier that gives users in India more access to our most popular features: 10x higher message limits, 10x more image generations, 10x more file uploads, and 2x longer memory compared with our free tier. All for ₹399.”

Welcome to India, @sama! 👋

Hyderabad is the perfect gateway to India and an ideal base for OpenAI

This city offers India’s most vibrant innovation ecosystem - THub, WEHub, TWorks, Telangana State Innovation Cell, Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad

It’s the preferred… https://t.co/eXkXE2xkeg

— KTR (@KTRBRS) August 23, 2025