OpenAI is rapidly expanding its presence in India — one of the key markets for its flagship ChatGPT product.

India is an appealing destination for U.S. tech giants, with companies ranging from Google to Meta betting on its huge — and young — population over recent years.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman visited the country in February this year and met with the country’s IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to discuss collaboration. During the visit, Altman said India was OpenAI’s second-largest market by number of users.

He has subsequently said that AI adoption in India is “amazing to watch.”

“We love to see the explosion of creativity–india is outpacing the world,” he said on X earlier this year.

India is one of ChatGPT’s fastest-growing markets globally, Nick Patience, practice lead for AI at tech research and analysis firm Futurum Group, told CNBC. “OpenAI’s India focus is a strategic move to gain a competitive edge,” he added.

Here’s a rundown of how OpenAI is expanding in India.

To address this, OpenAI in August launched ChatGPT Go, a low-cost 399-rupees-($4.53)-a-month plan for its AI app.

“It’s a classic wedge strategy to capture a price-sensitive market and build a user base that will be difficult for local players to dislodge later,” Futurum Group’s Patience said of the strategy.

According to Bloomberg, OpenAI is scouting a location in India for a data center with at least 1-gigawatt capacity. The facility will be part of OpenAI’s Stargate-branded infrastructure push, Bloomberg said this week, although CNBC was unable to verify the report.

The ChatGPT developer said last month that it would open a local office in the market and is currently advertising three sales roles in India.

It also announced last month an education program in India that will include funding for research and provide half a million ChatGPT licenses for educators and students across the country.

Continued geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and India over trade, however, have the potential to cause complications if there’s any backlash from New Delhi against American tech firms.

OpenAI is also locked in a legal battle with Asian News International in India, which has accused the ChatGPT developer of using copyrighted material illegally. It’s a closely-watched case in the country for how copyright laws apply in the AI era.

“OpenAI’s success in India is not guaranteed and depends heavily on its ability to navigate these legal and political hurdles,” Futurum Group’s Patience said.

“While the Indian market is vast, its diversity in languages and user needs presents challenges. OpenAI’s ability to deliver a truly localized product and its long-term impact on India’s AI talent remain uncertain.”

Alphabet’s Waymo unit will begin test-driving robotaxis at its first California-based airport, the company said Thursday.

The autonomous car unit has been cleared to begin testing driverless rides at the San José Mineta International Airport in San Jose, California, this fall. Waymo said it plans to offer paid rides at the airport later this year.

“With San José at the epicenter of the biggest sporting events of 2026, Waymo is an ideal mode of transportation that will help visitors move around the area smoothly and safely,” San José Mayor Matt Mahan said in a release.

The vehicles will pick up passengers at the Ground Transportation Centers in Terminal A or B and roll out to locations in Waymo’s San Francisco Bay Area service area, according to the release.

Once fully operational, it will be the second international airport where the company has service.

In 2023, Waymo launched at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which has become the most popular Waymo destination in its Phoenix metropolitan service area, a Waymo spokesperson said Thursday.

Waymo has continued to expand its driverless, ride-hailing service across the U.S. after already launching commercial operations in Austin, Texas, as well as Atlanta, San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles.

In March, Waymo expanded its service to include an additional 27 square miles of coverage around the San Francisco Bay Area, including Mountain View, Palo Alto and San Jose.

Bret Taylor’s artificial intelligence startup Sierra has just joined an exclusive club: The company sports a new $10 billion valuation after raising $350 million in fresh capital.

Sierra is one of just a handful of AI startups, including OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, Safe Superintelligence and Thinking Machines that are valued at or above $10 billion.

Investors are pouring money into this competitive group of companies in the hopes that they’ll eventually hit the public markets.

Taylor is the chairman of OpenAI’s board, and previously served as co-CEO of Salesforce alongside Marc Benioff. Taylor co-founded Sierra in 2023. The company builds and implements AI agents for customer service. AI agents can carry out tasks autonomously on behalf of their users.

Shares of Salesforce fell 5% Thursday after the company reported weak guidance and concerns lingered about how AI is affecting software companies.

Sierra said its agents are already being used by “hundreds of millions of people” to help with tasks like refinancing homes, ordering lunch, delivering furniture, understanding insurance deductibles and fixing technology, among other things.

Greenoaks led Sierra’s latest funding round, the company said. Its valuation more than doubled from its most recent raise in October.

“We’re in this for the long term,” Sierra said in a blog post on Thursday.

The company said it will use its fresh funding to invest in its platform and focus on domestic and international expansion.

Sierra’s funding follows a flurry of other major AI raises in Silicon Valley. Earlier this week, Anthropic announced it had closed a $13 billion funding round at a $183 billion post-money valuation.

WATCH: Sierra co-founder Bret Taylor on AI agents’ role in an evolving global landscape