OpenAI plans enormous data centre in India

Massive gigawatt facility part of Stargate AI infrastructure initiative

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OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is making significant progress in India. Sources reveal that the San Francisco-based company is considering plans for a large data centre in the country, as part of its Stargate AI infrastructure initiative. OpenAI is seeking local partners to build a facility with a capacity of at least 1 gigawatt. With this ambitious project, it would become one of the largest data centres in India, able to compete with investments from technology giants such as Microsoft and Google. This is reported by Bloomberg.

The move underscores the growing importance of India as a key market for OpenAI. The company is also setting up an office in New Delhi and expanding its recruitment efforts in the country, which already represents the world’s second-largest user base.

The proposed data centre would mark a breakthrough for the data centre landscape in India. Currently, the largest AI-ready facility in northern India operates with just 130 megawatts of computing capacity. OpenAI’s gigawatt-capacity facility would be nearly eight times larger and, by 2030, would account for about 22% of the total planned data center capacity in India. This scale reflects the enormous computing needs of modern AI systems, which require much more power than traditional applications.

Interestingly, these projects are taking place during a period of heightened trade tensions between the United States and India. Recent US tariffs on Indian goods threaten to impact exports in key sectors. Despite these challenges, however, American technology companies continue to invest heavily in India’s digital infrastructure, underscoring the importance of access to the vast user base. This suggests that investments in technology infrastructure may be somewhat insulated from broader geopolitical conflicts.

Major US tech companies such as Microsoft and Google have also maintained their investments in data centers in India despite strained economic relations, highlighting the appeal of this growing market.

Business AM

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