
OpenAI has unveiled its first cohort of higher education institutions in India, marking a significant step in its effort to deepen artificial intelligence adoption across the country’s academic ecosystem. The initiative brings together some of India’s most influential institutions, including Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi, alongside Manipal Academy of Higher Education, UPES and Pearl Academy.
Unlike earlier efforts that focused largely on providing access to AI tools, OpenAI’s new programme is aimed at institutional transformation. The company says it wants to help students, faculty and staff use AI to think critically, deepen learning and create responsibly, rather than treating AI as a standalone productivity add-on.
According to OpenAI, the initiative will support more than 100,000 students, educators and administrators over the next year. Participating campuses will receive secure, enterprise-grade access to ChatGPT Edu, structured onboarding programmes, discipline-specific guidance and responsible-use frameworks aligned with academic integrity policies.
“AI literacy is essential to building a future-ready generation,” said Raghav Gupta, Head of Education at OpenAI India. He pointed to studies suggesting that nearly 40 percent of today’s core workplace skills could change by 2030, largely driven by AI, warning that a gap remains between what AI tools can do and how effectively people use them.
The collaborations are tailored to each institution’s strengths. At IIT Delhi, the focus will be on engineering-led innovation, applied research and hackathons tied to national priorities. IIM Ahmedabad will integrate AI fluency into management education across strategy, finance, marketing and public policy, while also supporting executive programmes and startup incubation.
AIIMS New Delhi will explore applied uses of AI in medical education and clinical training, including simulations, documentation and evidence synthesis, with an emphasis on safety, quality benchmarks and ethical deployment. Manipal Academy of Higher Education plans to roll out cross-disciplinary AI capability tracks spanning engineering, health sciences, business and hospitality, while UPES and Pearl Academy will focus on applied innovation and creative workflows respectively.
Beyond elite campuses, OpenAI is also working with Indian ed-tech platforms such as PhysicsWallah, upGrad and HCL GUVI to roll out structured AI courses for students and early-career professionals. The aim is to ensure AI fluency scales beyond select institutions and reaches India’s broader learner base.
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