OpenAI eyes collaboration with India for data centres
OpenAI's chief strategy officer Jason Kwon, who is currently in Delhi, has been touring across Asia Pacific, covering countries like Japan, South Korea, Australia, India and Singapore, meeting governments and potential private-sector partners to discuss opportunities within the 'OpenAI for Countries' initiative.
The 'for Countries' initiative works in a two-way partnership between the US and another country. In its pilot project announced with UAE last month, the middle=east country will house a 1-gigawatt AI computing cluster called Stargate in Abu Dhabi, while also investing in similar AI infrastructure in the US as part of the US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership.
While details of the India-US partnership under the 'OpenAI for Countries' initiative remain undisclosed, the company's goal is to pursue 10 projects with individual countries or regions as the first phase of this initiative, and expand from there, said a company blog post.
In a step towards 'cultivating AI talent' in India, OpenAI, in partnership with MeitY's IndiaAI Mission, launched 'OpenAI Academy' to give India's developer community and network of startups and innovators access to AI education and tools. The two also signed a memorandum of understanding, making it OpenAI's first international launch of its education platform.
The MoU outlines seven joint initiatives, including OpenAI contributing educational content to IndiaAI Mission's FutureSkills platform to support digital skilling. The educational content will also be hosted on the iGOT Karmayogi platform to train government officials, initially in English and Hindi, and later in four regional languages.
Additionally, OpenAI will conduct regular webinars and in-person workshops in six cities, and provide up to $100,000 in API credits to 50 IndiaAI-approved fellows or startups. The partnership also includes a series of hackathons across seven states, expected to reach around 25,000 students, with winners receiving invitations to attend OpenAI Dev Day events internationally.
'We believe the latest AI frameworks and tools must be made widely accessible so that our startups, developers, and researchers can build faster, better, and at scale,' IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a video message at the event.
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And it is doing so in direct response to actions like these. Trump's Tariff Threats: A Boomerang Strategy Trump's economic nationalism is nothing new. In his first term, he applied the same tactic against China, the European Union, and even Canada and Japan—countries traditionally viewed as allies. But while he managed to extract some concessions, his trade war with China left global supply chains bruised, inflationary pressures high, and the American consumer footing the bill. It did not succeed in reshoring US manufacturing or taming China's ambitions. Now, his attempt to use the same hammer against BRICS is not only outdated but counterproductive. In threatening BRICS with a 100 per cent tariff six months ago if they dared challenge the dollar's supremacy, Trump may have done more to accelerate de-dollarisation than any summit or policy paper could have. His latest move—imposing a 10 per cent tariff across the board—will likely deepen economic rifts, not heal them. Once mocked for lumping together disparate economies, BRICS has quietly transformed into a political and economic coalition that is both ideologically diverse and strategically coherent. Brazil's Lula da Silva, India's Narendra Modi, China's Xi Jinping, Russia's Vladimir Putin, and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa—leaders who rarely agree on every issue—are now united in one cause: reducing dependence on the US-led economic order. The bloc's recent summit in Brazil was a showcase of this unity. Without naming Trump or the US, the joint statement sharply criticised 'unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures," a clear rebuke of Trump's weaponisation of trade. The statement also warned that these actions threaten to unravel global trade, destabilise supply chains, and exacerbate economic inequalities, especially in the Global South. What Is Trump Afraid Of? Trump is not afraid of BRICS as an economic bloc per se. 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About the Author Prosenjit Nath The writer is an Indian technocrat, political analyst, and author. tags : American Dollar BRICS countries donald trump view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: July 09, 2025, 11:44 IST News opinion Opinion | Trump Vs BRICS: Round Two Begins In A World No Longer Willing To Bow Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
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