New Delhi: OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, on Friday announced plans to open its first office in India later this year, selecting New Delhi as its base. The decision comes as India emerges as the company’s second-largest user base after the United States and one of its fastest-growing markets, with weekly active users rising more than fourfold over the past year.

The office will support the government’s IndiaAI mission and strengthen partnerships with local stakeholders. It will also help OpenAI serve students, educators, developers, and businesses who rely on its AI tools for learning, creativity, and problem-solving.

“The level of excitement and opportunity for AI in India is incredible. India has all the ingredients to become a global AI leader, amazing tech talent, a world-class developer ecosystem, and strong government support through the IndiaAI Mission,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. “Opening our first office and building a local team is an important step in our commitment to make advanced AI more accessible across the country and to build AI for India, and with India.”

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw welcomed the move, calling it a recognition of India’s leadership in digital innovation and AI adoption. “With strong investments in digital public infrastructure, AI talent, and enterprise-scale solutions, India is uniquely positioned to drive the next wave of AI-led transformation,” he said.

While the exact location of the office is yet to be finalised, OpenAI has registered an entity in India and begun building a local team. The team will focus on collaboration with government, businesses, developers, and academic institutions, as well as on designing features tailored to India to make AI more affordable and accessible.

OpenAI’s technology is already being used in India across sectors including agriculture, recruitment, and governance. To deepen engagement, the company will host its first Education Summit in India this month, followed by its first Developer Day later this year.

Recruitment for various roles is underway, with further details on the office and upcoming initiatives expected in the coming months.

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New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.

“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.

The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.

Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.

“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.

“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.

In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.

“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.

The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.

According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.

On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.