For quite some time now, U.S. tech giants have been tapping into India’s rapidly expanding internet user base. OpenAI is the latest to join this trend, with India’s interest in ChatGPT growing at an impressive pace. However, turning this growth into actual revenue hasn’t been a walk in the park for OpenAI.
According to SensorTower data, Indian users have only spent about $8 million on ChatGPT subscriptions through in-app purchases since 2023, not counting web app transactions. To put this in perspective, U.S. users have shelled out a whopping $330 million for similar purchases.
One roadblock seems to be the lack of localized pricing. The most affordable ChatGPT plan in India is priced at $20 a month, which is over ₹1,700. For many in India, this is quite a hefty price tag for digital subscriptions. Although OpenAI hasn’t shared specific growth numbers, their COO, Brad Lightcap, recently mentioned that India is indeed ChatGPT’s fastest-growing market.
Despite the modest revenue, India holds immense potential for OpenAI’s growth. CEO Sam Altman has big dreams of turning OpenAI into a platform with billions of users. With over 950 million internet users, India could play a pivotal role in achieving this goal.
OpenAI is reportedly exploring a partnership with Reliance Jio, a major player in India’s mobile carrier space, to widen ChatGPT’s user base. Meanwhile, ChatGPT’s natural growth in India hasn’t slowed down. Appfigures data shows that over 20% of ChatGPT’s Android app downloads this year came from India. This surge partly owes its thanks to a revamped image generator that went viral for creating lifelike Ghibli-style art. Globally, ChatGPT is enjoying over 500 million weekly users.
With such a large and growing user base, the potential for OpenAI in India is enormous. However, they’ll need to address pricing and other local challenges to truly capitalize on this market.
