ChatGPT India: now OpenAI's largest market by weekly users, says India MD

India has overtaken the United States to become ChatGPT's largest market by weekly active users, OpenAI's India managing director Prabhjeet Singh said in an interview published on Tuesday, 3 November 2026. Singh said the number of people in India using the AI chatbot each week has doubled since January 2026, as users fit it into their everyday work. He also said OpenAI expects to make announcements on India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and payments in the coming weeks. OpenAI did not publish the exact number of Indian users.

A weekly active user is someone who uses the service at least once in a seven-day period. It is a common way for technology companies to measure how many people use a product regularly. On that measure, OpenAI now says India is its biggest market for ChatGPT, the chatbot built on its large language models, which are AI systems trained on large amounts of text to answer questions and write and summarise content.

The claim matters for India's place in the global AI race. A large, young user base gives AI companies data on how people use AI in many languages and settings, and makes India a priority for product launches. It also brings questions. Being the biggest market by users does not make India the biggest by revenue, and none of the reports gave figures for paying subscribers or earnings. Independent estimates of country shares differ, and one third-party estimate from September put the US and India within about a percentage point of each other.

The UPI plans could be significant for everyday users. UPI is India's real-time payments system. Linking ChatGPT to UPI could make it easier for Indians to pay for subscriptions or, potentially, to complete purchases through the chatbot, though OpenAI has not yet said what it will announce. The move to ads, which Singh said would keep answers independent of advertisers, is another sign that OpenAI is shaping its India strategy around a large free user base.

Peepals timeline: On 15 February 2026, Sam Altman said India had 100 million weekly ChatGPT users and ranked it second to the US. In August 2026, Prabhjeet Singh joined OpenAI as India managing director. On 3 November 2026, in his first media interview in the role, Singh said India had become ChatGPT's largest market by weekly users, with the base doubling since January. He said UPI and payment announcements would follow within weeks.

Short-term: Indian users can expect more India-specific features, including payment options linked to UPI, and more advertising inside the free version of ChatGPT.

Long-term: India's weight as ChatGPT's largest user base gives it more influence over how OpenAI builds features, prices plans and handles local rules on data and AI safety. It also raises the stakes for Indian AI developers building their own models and apps, who now compete with a global product already used by a very large Indian audience.

Who is affected: Students and young professionals, who form a large share of Indian users; Indian businesses moving from AI pilots to full use; payment companies and banks linked to UPI; and Indian AI start-ups.

What to watch next: OpenAI's announcements on UPI and payments, which Singh said are due in the coming weeks.

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