OpenAI ties up with Indian universities. (AP photo)

OpenAI on Tuesday announced deep institutional partnerships with six leading Indian universities and three major edtech platforms, marking a decisive shift from individual AI use to campus-wide deployment aimed at building AI-ready talent for India’s future workforce.The first cohort of partner institutions includes IIT Delhi, IIM Ahmedabad, AIIMS New Delhi, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) and Pearl Academy. Together, the initiative is expected to support over one lakh students, faculty and staff over the next year through structured access to enterprise-grade ChatGPT Edu, faculty enablement programmes and responsible-use frameworks .Unlike earlier models focused on tool access, OpenAI said the effort is anchored in institutional transformation — embedding AI across teaching, research, evaluation and campus operations, while aligning with academic integrity and ethical safeguards.“By 2030, nearly 40% of core skills workers rely on today will change, driven largely by AI. Educational institutions are critical to bridging the gap between what AI tools can do and how people actually use them,” said Raghav Gupta, head of education at OpenAI India.At IIT Delhi, the collaboration centres on engineering-led innovation, with AI integrated across undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and executive programmes. OpenAI-supported hackathons and industry days will link student innovation to India’s manufacturing, deep-tech and R&D ecosystem. IIM Ahmedabad will deploy ChatGPT Edu across degree and executive programmes, embedding AI fluency into management education spanning strategy, finance, operations, public policy and entrepreneurship.AIIMS New Delhi will explore applied AI use in medical education and clinical training, including a proposed AI in Medical Education Hub focused on simulations, clinical documentation and evidence synthesis, with an emphasis on safety benchmarks and ethical deployment. MAHE’s partnership spans engineering, health sciences, business and hospitality, with structured AI capability tracks across disciplines.UPES and Pearl Academy will focus on multidisciplinary and creative applications respectively — from engineering, law and health sciences at UPES to design, fashion technology and digital media at Pearl Academy — treating AI as core academic infrastructure rather than pilot experimentation.In addition, IIM Ahmedabad and MAHE will roll out OpenAI certifications to formalise structured AI capability pathways in management and multidisciplinary education. To extend AI skills beyond campuses, OpenAI is also partnering edtech platforms PhysicsWallah, upGrad and HCL GUVI to offer structured courses on AI fundamentals and practical ChatGPT use for students and early-career professionals.The move signals a broader shift in India’s higher education landscape — from AI awareness to institutional adoption — as universities begin positioning graduates not just as AI users, but as leaders in an AI-driven economy.