OpenAI and the Artificial Intelligence Task Force (IndiaAI) under India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology officially announced the launch of the "OpenAI Academy India Branch" on Thursday. This marks the first international rollout of OpenAI's education platform. The collaboration aims to expand the reach and skills training of artificial intelligence in India, covering a diverse range of groups including students, developers, educators, government officials, non-profit organization leaders, and small business owners.
According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by both parties, the OpenAI Academy will be an important component of IndiaAI’s future skills strategy, offering blended online and offline teaching, initially supporting English and Hindi, with plans to expand to more regional languages in the future.
In terms of implementation, OpenAI will contribute AI educational content to India’s FutureSkills platform and the civil servant training platform iGOT Karmayogi. Additionally, it will host online and offline seminars in six cities. Furthermore, it will provide up to $100,000 worth of API credits to 50 startups or researchers approved by IndiaAI.
The two parties will also jointly organize student hackathons at the state level, expected to reach 25,000 students. Winners of these events will have the opportunity to participate in the OpenAI International Developer Conference (DevDay). In addition, OpenAI has committed to providing training in generative AI tools for one million teachers in India.
In his congratulatory letter, Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s Federal Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, stated that this collaboration is "an important step towards democratizing knowledge and technology," emphasizing that the OpenAI Academy will "accelerate local innovation and promote community learning."
Jason Kwon, OpenAI’s Chief Strategy Officer, pointed out: "India is highly dynamic in global AI development. Through the OpenAI India Academy, we hope to help more people build confidence and skills to use AI effectively in their daily lives."
It was revealed that the OpenAI Academy will continue to offer free video tutorials, practical modules, virtual events, and peer learning opportunities, further promoting equitable access to AI knowledge globally.