US-based OpenAI to provide 5 lakh ChatGPT licenses to teachers and students in India

US-based AI giant OpenAI, which has raised billions in funding, will distribute 5 lakh ChatGPT licenses to teachers and students across India over the next six months, in what the company is calling one of its most significant investments in India’s education ecosystem to date.

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The licenses will be routed through partnerships with the Ministry of Education (MoE), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and member schools of the Association for Reinventing School Education (ARISE).

“We believe AI has incredible potential to empower educators and learners. To realise that potential, we must work side by side with educators and institutions. This effort is critical to OpenAI’s mission of ensuring AGI benefits humanity—and as such, the launch of OpenAI Learning Accelerator alongside our partners, represents one of OpenAI’s most significant investments in India’s education ecosystem to date,” said Leah Belsky, VP of Education, OpenAI

The new program, called the OpenAI Learning Accelerator, is being launched first in India. Teachers in government schools serving Classes 1 through 12 will gain access to ChatGPT for lesson planning and classroom engagement, while technical institutes under AICTE will use the licenses to bolster digital skills, employability and applied AI use. At ARISE schools, K-12 educators will receive access to support teaching in classrooms.

“There is huge potential to work closely with educators and institutions across India, and I’m thrilled to join OpenAI to lead our educational initiatives here and across the APAC region,” said Raghav Gupta, OpenAI’s newly appointed Head of Education for India and Asia Pacific.

“By working closely with universities, schools, government bodies, and educators, we have an opportunity to truly transform education through AI, driving better learning outcomes, while supporting India’s ambitions to be a global leader in AI-enabled education.”

Raghav brings over two decades of experience in education and consumer technology, most recently as Managing Director for India and Asia Pacific at Coursera. In this role, Raghav will lead OpenAI’s work to advance education with AI and make OpenAI’s tools more accessible to educators, students, and education researchers across India.

The expansion comes just days after OpenAI confirmed plans to open its first office in India, in New Delhi, later this year. The company has also introduced an India-specific subscription tier at Rs 399 per month, with integrated UPI payments, and said its latest model, GPT-5, shows marked gains in Indic language performance. Currently, ChatGPT supports 11 Indian languages.

In parallel, OpenAI is working with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on a nationwide AI literacy program, the OpenAI Academy, aimed at spreading digital skills in rural and urban schools alike.