OpenAI's India strategy: A survival plan or a game changer?

*Anthropic to open first India office in 2026 as demand for AI tools grows* Oct 7 (Reuters) - Anthropic, the artificial intelligence startup backed by Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab and Amazon.com (AMZN.O), opens new tab, said on Tuesday it will open its first office in India next year, aiming to tap into the country's growing appetite for AI tools. The move comes as AI adoption in India accelerates, fueled by rising enterprise tech spending, a growing pool of skilled talent, and increasing investor interest. India, home to nearly a billion internet users, is becoming a major battleground for global AI players. The Asian country has emerged as Anthropic's second-largest consumer market for its chatbot Claude, which competes with OpenAI's ChatGPT and is noted for its strong coding capabilities. Anthropic currently offers both free and paid tiers of Claude in India but has not yet introduced local currency pricing. Co-founder and CEO Dario Amodei is scheduled to visit India this week to meet with public officials and corporate partners, the $183 billion company said. The new office will be located in Bengaluru, widely recognized as the technology hub of India, and operations will start early 2026, Anthropic said. The location would serve as its second office in the Asia Pacific region after Tokyo, it added. OpenAI, backed by Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab, was formally registered as a legal entity in India in 2025 and plans to open its first India office in New Delhi later this year. OpenAI and Anthropic face strong competition in India from rivals such as Google's Gemini and AI startup Perplexity, both of which have launched offerings that make their advanced plans free for many users in the market. Last month, Anthropic announced plans to triple its international workforce to meet a surge in demand for its Claude AI models outside the United States.

Anthropic, an AI start-up backed by Alphabet's Google and Amazon.com, announced it will open its first office in India in early 2026. The office will be located in Bengaluru, India's technology hub, marking Anthropic's second Asia Pacific office after Tokyo. This expansion aims to leverage India's rapidly growing demand for AI tools, supported by increased enterprise technology spending, a skilled talent pool, and heightened investor interest. India has become Anthropic's second-largest market for its AI chatbot Claude, which competes with OpenAI's ChatGPT and is recognized for strong coding capabilities. Currently, Anthropic offers both free and paid versions of Claude in India but has yet to introduce local currency pricing. CEO Dario Amodei is scheduled to visit India to meet with public officials and corporate partners as part of this expansion. Competition in the Indian AI market is intensifying, with OpenAI planning to open its first Indian office in New Delhi later in 2025. Other rivals include Google's Gemini and the AI start-up Perplexity, both offering advanced AI tools for free to many Indian users. To address growing demand outside the United States, Anthropic also recently announced plans to triple its international workforce. #AI #India https://lnkd.in/gbNQCiFF

ChatGPT Go has entered to Sri Lanka ❤️ (and It’s Finally Affordable) OpenAI has done something interesting. They’ve introduced ChatGPT Go, a budget-friendly plan that gives you access to the same brainpower as GPT-5, but at a price most of us can actually afford. The cost? Roughly LKR 1,500 a month. Yes, you read that right. The world’s most advanced language model for about the price of two coffees in Colombo (or one if you add a slice of cake). ChatGPT Go started in India, but it’s clearly meant for regions like ours too—where smart tools can make a real difference for teachers, researchers, students, and small businesses. It supports local payment systems, and the rollout is expected to reach other South Asian countries soon. So what’s new? You get double the memory and context, meaning longer, more useful chats. You can upload files, images, and documents for analysis, and your message limit is much higher than the free version. Essentially, it’s the same GPT-5 brain, just without the extra experimental gadgets reserved for the higher tiers. Think of it as the “mid-range phone” of AI: not overloaded with features you’ll never use, but powerful enough to handle almost anything you throw at it, research summaries, business writing, lesson prep, or even a touch of coding help at midnight. The best part? It changes who gets to join the AI conversation. Many universities and SMEs in Sri Lanka and across South Asia simply couldn’t justify the higher subscription fees. Now, a far larger crowd can actually explore what AI can do—not just read about it. If OpenAI keeps this direction, we might see AI literacy grow faster in our region than anywhere else. Because when technology becomes affordable, creativity does the rest. So yes, ChatGPT Go might just be the “entry ticket” to the future of work, and it costs less than a pizza. Would you give it a try when it arrives here? Or are you still on the free plan, asking it to write you a business strategy while it politely reminds you of message limits? #ChatGPTGo #AIinEducation #OpenAI #DigitalInnovation #SriLanka #SouthAsia #AIforAll #GPT5 #FutureOfWork #MrQS #TechnologyLeadership #Silkroute #TrueCeylonCinnamonLK #EstimatesLK

Perplexity is going to be the next big AI Research and Productivity Tool. Been using Perplexity Pro lately (many of us grabbed it via Airtel) and it’s the best research and ideation experience used so far. It started as “just using other models,” but today it stands out for fast, cited answers and model flexibility. Some might say Claude by Anthropic is best for coding, Gemini by Google DeepMind is best for Deep Research, ChatGPT is best for writing among the proprietary models. But the Pro subscriptions are way powerful here. Only a few know how to use them. I will be coming up with detailed list of features each app will be providing. sharing here, this is how you can get free 1 year subscriptions if you have a student account. 1. Perplexity Pro - Free 1 year for Students and Airtel Users - Allows you to choose models and extended research queries. 2. Google AI Pro - Free 1 year + 2TB Drive storage for students or if you have a student account. 3. Microsoft Copilot Pro - Free 1 year + 1 TB onedrive storage for students. #AI #AITools #perplexityai #chatgpt #googleai #gemini #claude #copilot #microsoft #anthropic

Here's what nobody's saying about the Google-Anthropic deal: ChatGPT works. Claude works. Chat AI? Proven. Billions of users. Real revenue. So why did Google just bet TENS OF BILLIONS on what comes NEXT? THE GAP: First-order AI (chat): Proven ✓ Second-order AI (everything else): TBD We're watching a $100B+ bet on taking working chat AI and: → Deploying it in schools (South Korea: $850M, dead in 4 months) → Embedding in news (50% accuracy on factual questions) → Putting in glasses (Oculus founders: $250M, no hardware yet) → Scaling 100x (Google's bet) THE PATTERN: Phase 1: Prove chat AI works ✓ Phase 2: Assume everything else works Phase 3: Build infrastructure for Phase 2 ← WE ARE HERE We skipped proving Phase 2. SOUTH KOREA'S $850M LESSON: They took working AI and deployed it in schools. Result? - Teachers hated it - Students struggled   - Canceled in 4 months The AI worked. The deployment didn't. Chat AI working ≠ Educational AI working. GOOGLE'S ACTUAL BET: Not: "Does Claude work?" (it does) But: "Will Claude 10x bigger, in new modalities, at enterprise scale, create the use cases we're building infrastructure for?" That's not buying proven tech. That's funding a hypothesis. THE ACCURACY GAP: AI chat: Great for coding, writing, research AI news: 50% failure on factual questions Same tech. Different results. Infrastructure bets assume these gaps close. What if they don't? THE INSIGHT: Everyone's extrapolating ONE working use case (chat) to justify infrastructure for DOZENS of unproven ones. That's like iPhone succeeding in 2007 and immediately building factories for smart watches, smart glasses, and smart rings. Some worked (Watch). Some failed (Glass). Most never shipped. BOTTOM LINE: The gap between "chat AI works" and "everything else works" is where: → South Korea lost $850M → Google is betting tens of billions → News assistants hit 50% accuracy Chat AI: Proven ✓ Everything else: Expensive hypothesis testing The infrastructure is being built for the hypothesis. Not the proof. #AI #Technology #Strategy P.S. - "AI works" in 2025 is like "the internet works" in 1999. True for email. Didn't stop the dot-com crash for everything else.

Anthropic announced plans to open its first office in India, located in Bengaluru, in early 2026. This will be the company's second Asian office after Tokyo and reflects its strategy to expand in a rapidly growing AI market where rival OpenAI is already active. CEO Dario Amodei is currently visiting India to engage with public officials and enterprise partners. India leads global AI adoption with over 90% of workers using AI tools, according to Boston Consulting Group. Anthropic aims to focus on deploying AI for social impact in sectors such as education and healthcare, while also supporting key industries through strategic partnerships. The company plans to enhance its AI product Claude with improved performance in Hindi and nearly a dozen other Indian languages. India is currently the second-largest market for Claude usage after the U.S. However, Anthropic trails behind OpenAI in scale; in August, Claude was downloaded 118,000 times compared to ChatGPT’s 10.3 million downloads and Perplexity’s 6.4 million in India. OpenAI has also intensified its efforts in the country by launching a low-cost subscription for ChatGPT and reportedly planning its own Indian office. Anthropic’s India expansion is part of a wider global growth strategy aimed at increasing its international workforce and securing more enterprise customers. #AI #India https://lnkd.in/gq3TFZXT

**Latest Tech News Highlights** • **Discord Security Breach**: A data breach has affected at least **70,000 users** on Discord • **Major AI Developments**: - Reflection AI secured **$2B** in funding to compete with DeepSeek as America's open frontier AI lab - Figma partnered with Google to integrate Gemini AI into its design platform - Microsoft's Nadella emphasized their existing AI data center infrastructure vs OpenAI's plans • **Notable Startup News**: - Stoke Space raised **$510M**, indicating growing defense sector influence in launch industry - Datacurve secured **$15M** to compete with Scale AI - SpotitEarly developed AI and dog-based cancer detection technology • **Product Updates**: - YouTube introduced a 'second chance' policy for banned creators - Netflix expanded into TV-based gaming - Meta added Hindi and Portuguese support for AI translation in Reels - Sora reached **1M downloads** faster than ChatGPT • **Enterprise Tech**: - Intel unveiled new processor using 18A semiconductor technology - Flipkart's Super.money partnered with Juspay for expansion • **Industry Trends**: - Duolingo announced it will 'never' open a San Francisco office - Andreessen Horowitz denied reports of India office plans

Big Update: ChatGPT Go rolls out $5 access in select countries I am excited to share that OpenAI is making a bold move to democratize AI access with ChatGPT Go a lower cost subscription tier now available in several countries (including Bangladesh) for approximately $5/month. OpenAI Help Center+2 Stocktwits+2 Here’s what you need to know: What is ChatGPT Go? ChatGPT Go is a new subscription plan that sits between the free and premium (Plus/Pro) tiers. It offers enhanced capabilities at a more affordable price. OpenAI Help Center Features include: Greater message & usage limits More image generation capacity Expanded file upload support Longer memory / improved context retention Access to GPT-5 (in eligible regions) Medial+3 OpenAI Help Center+3 Windows Central+3 Availability & Regional Pricing The rollout has expanded to 16 new countries in Asia, including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Maldives, Brunei, Bhutan, East Timor, Afghanistan, Indonesia Mitrade+3 Stocktwits+3 Yahoo Finance+3 In many of these markets, pricing is localized or shown in local currency. Stocktwits+3 OpenAI Help Center+3 Top AI Tools List - OpenTools+3 The aim: make AI more accessible in markets with lower average spending power. Top AI Tools List - OpenTools+2 Stocktwits+2 Why this matters Broader access — A lower price point brings more users into the AI ecosystem who might not have opted for the $20+ plans. Balanced tiering — It provides a “sweet spot” between basic free access and premium plans, especially for students, professionals, creators. Market expansion — It reflects OpenAI’s strategy to grow usage in regions with fast digital adoption but lower per capita software spending. Future trajectory — This move could influence how AI subscription models evolve globally (pricing tiers, local pricing, feature segmentation). If you’re in one of the eligible countries, this is a great opportunity to test GPT-5 with more flexibility. For those not yet eligible, it signals where the industry is heading towards more inclusive AI access. Feel free to share this update if you think others in your network should know. And if you’re already on ChatGPT Go, I’d love to hear your experience. #Chatgpt #OpenAI #ChatgptGo #AI #Go

🚨 OpenAI just turned ChatGPT into an OPERATING SYSTEM 🚨 DevDay 2025 dropped yesterday. The tech world will NEVER be the same. Here's what happened 👇 💥 THE BOMBSHELLS: 📱 ChatGPT = New App Store → 800M weekly users (8X since 2023) → Apps run INSIDE ChatGPT now → Booking, Spotify, Zillow, Canva integrated 🤖 AgentKit Suite → Agent Builder (visual AI agents) → ChatKit (widget integration) → Guardrails + Evals 🎬 Sora 2 API live 🧠 GPT-5 Pro in API 📊 THE NUMBERS: → 4 Million developers (doubled) → 6 BILLION tokens/minute → 800M weekly users This is a PARADIGM SHIFT. 💡 WHAT IT MEANS: 🔥 ChatGPT = Distribution Channel Build once, reach 800M users instantly No marketing needed 🔥 AI Agents = Mainstream Drag-and-drop agent building Non-coders can automate workflows 🔥 Video Generation = Commoditized Anyone can create pro videos now ⚡ 5 MOVES TO MAKE NOW: 1️⃣ EXPLORE APPS SDK 🛠️ 800M users waiting for solutions First movers win 2️⃣ BUILD YOUR FIRST AGENT 🤖 Agent Builder is live Automate repetitive tasks TODAY 3️⃣ EXPERIMENT WITH SORA 2 🎬 Video content about to explode Quality storytelling wins 4️⃣ UPSKILL IN AI INTEGRATION 📚 "AI Integration Specialist" = hottest job 2025 Learn prompt engineering + APIs 5️⃣ RETHINK BUSINESS MODEL 💼 Can your business be a ChatGPT app? Distribution to 800M = game changer 💣 WINNERS & LOSERS: WINNERS 🏆 → Developers building ChatGPT apps NOW → Companies integrating AI agents early → Professionals upskilling in AI LOSERS 💔 → Companies ignoring this → Developers waiting for "perfect time" → Professionals refusing to learn AI The gap is widening FAST. 🎯 THE QUESTION: 6 months from now, where will YOU be? A) Building apps for 800M users B) Using AI agents to 10X productivity C) Still "planning to learn AI" D) Wondering why everyone's ahead Drop your answer 👇 If C or D... DM me. Let's fix that. 💬 WHAT WILL YOU BUILD FIRST? → ChatGPT app? → AI agent? → Sora video? → Just exploring? The future arrived yesterday. Are you ready? 🚀 Follow for AI updates that matter 🧠 #OpenAI #DevDay2025 #ChatGPT #AIAgents #ArtificialIntelligence #TechNews #FutureOfWork #Developers #AgentKit #Innovation