New Delhi, February 19, 2026 — In a watershed moment for India’s digital economy, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman today announced the launch of the ‘OpenAI for India’ initiative, aimed at building a sovereign AI ecosystem “with India, for India, and in India.”
Speaking at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Altman revealed a strategic partnership with the Tata Group to develop local AI infrastructure, marking OpenAI’s first major move to localize its advanced models within the country.
Infrastructure: The 1 GW Ambition
At the core of this partnership is a massive infrastructure build-out under OpenAI’s global Stargate initiative.
TCS HyperVault: OpenAI will become the first customer of Tata Consultancy Services’ (TCS) new HyperVault data center business.
Capacity: The project will commence with 100 megawatts (MW) of AI-ready data center capacity, with plans to scale up to 1 gigawatt (GW) over time.
This local infrastructure is designed to meet strict data residency, security, and compliance requirements, allowing OpenAI’s advanced models to operate with lower latency. This move is expected to be a game-changer for mission-critical and government workloads that require data to remain within Indian borders.
TCS to Deploy ChatGPT Enterprise
Beyond infrastructure, the collaboration involves one of the largest enterprise AI deployments in history. The Tata Group plans to roll out ChatGPT Enterprise across its vast workforce, starting with hundreds of thousands of TCS employees.
Upskilling: The move aims to accelerate workforce upskilling and industry transformation.
Coding Future: TCS will also integrate OpenAI’s Codex to power AI-native software development across its engineering teams.
“India is Leading the Way”
Highlighting India’s pivotal role in the global AI landscape, Altman noted that the country already boasts over 100 million weekly ChatGPT users, ranging from students to developers.
“India is already leading the way in AI adoption and is well placed to help shape how democratic AI is adopted at scale,” Altman said.
Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran termed the partnership a “milestone” for India’s AI ambitions, emphasizing that it would create advanced domestic capabilities and drive the next wave of industrial transformation.