We’re no longer in the early days of Artificial Intelligence (AI). What was once a nascent technology has quickly become mainstream, embedding itself in workplaces and businesses worldwide.
The pace of adoption has outstripped any previous wave of technological change. Unlike the personal computer or the smartphone, AI did not need to build infrastructure from scratch; the internet and cloud systems already in place gave it a ready-made runway.
Driven by this, AI is becoming increasingly ubiquitous. And in India, its momentum is accelerating with unusual intensity. The country is not merely catching up with a global trend; it is emerging as one of the epicentres of AI adoption from personal to business use.
Appetite for AI
There is a palpable enthusiasm for AI among Indians. To put it into perspective, the country is now the second-largest market for OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, which boasts more than 700 million active users worldwide. Rival AI company Anthropic reports a similar ranking. These figures are partly about population size, but it’s also highlight the robust appetite for AI.
Global firms have responded to this enthusiasm. OpenAI opened a New Delhi office in 2024 and launched a subscription priced at just $4.50 a month—one-fifth the cost of its cheapest American plan. Perplexity, another AI start-up, has gone further, offering free subscriptions in partnership with Airtel, one of India’s biggest telecom operators.
