OpenAI’s India publisher pipeline expands, two more deals in the works

OpenAI’s publisher partnership pipeline in India appears to be expanding beyond its two publicly announced deals with Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL) and the Indian Express Group, with two more partnerships understood to be in the works, according to industry sources. 

One media house is rooted in television and digital broadcasting, while the other has a strong legacy in print and digital publishing. 

The development comes as Indian publishers increasingly seek to engage with the AI company, even as OpenAI has yet to publicly spell out the contours of its larger media strategy for the market. A query sent by e4m remained unanswered till the time of publishing this report. 

The two September announcements—first with BCCL, publisher of The Times of India and The Economic Times, followed by the Indian Express Group—marked OpenAI’s first publicly disclosed publisher partnerships in India. The potential addition of two more deals could provide a clearer indication of whether the company is looking to build a broader publisher ecosystem in the country or pursue a more selective approach to media partnerships.

After the initial announcements, the industry is now watching for the next set of deals and, importantly, what they reveal about OpenAI’s priorities in India. Globally, the company has built partnerships with a wide range of news organisations across markets, but its India playbook remains less defined.

Several publishers have already begun exploring similar arrangements, according to industry sources. As e4m reported last week, some leading publishers have approached OpenAI, although they are yet to secure commercial arrangements. 

Industry estimates put the BCCL deal at around $5 million a year and the Indian Express Group partnership at approximately $3 million annually. The figures have not been confirmed by the publishers or OpenAI. 

The Sam Altman-led company had said in February that India had crossed 100 million weekly ChatGPT users, making it one of its largest markets globally. It has also announced plans to deepen its presence in the country through local partnerships, infrastructure and offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru. 

However, its approach to the country's news publishing ecosystem is still taking shape. Meanwhile, on Monday, the ChatGPT owner announced a partnership with former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. 

OpenAI, however, declined to comment on its potential partnerships or the wider media strategy in India.

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Larger playbook awaited

Globally, OpenAI's engagement with publishers has evolved considerably over the past three years. The company said in January 2025 that it had partnered with nearly 20 media organisations, bringing its technology to more than 160 news outlets and hundreds of content brands across more than 20 languages. Its list included News Corp, Financial Times, Reuters, The Atlantic, Vox Media, Condé Nast, Hearst and others.

By 2026, OpenAI has continued adding publishers in new markets. Its first media partnership in Brazil, announced in May, brought Folha de S.Paulo and UOL's journalism to ChatGPT, with OpenAI describing the initiative as part of its broader work with news organisations across the US, UK, France, Germany and other markets.

India, by comparison, has so far seen only two publicly announced publisher partnerships. 

The BCCL agreement covers journalism from its English and Indian-language publications, with ChatGPT surfacing selected content with attribution and links to the original articles. The two companies are also exploring applications across archive discovery, research, data analysis, translation, reader services and business operations.

The Indian Express Group's arrangement similarly covers live and archived content across seven languages—English, Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil, Bengali and Gujarati—and includes The Indian Express, The Financial Express and other group properties. The companies have also identified potential applications of OpenAI technology across areas including archive discovery, research, translation, data analysis and reader services.

For the rest of the industry, however, the question is not merely whether another licensing deal will be signed. It is whether OpenAI intends to create a broader and repeatable partnership model for Indian publishers, and if so, what determines participation.

“That distinction could prove important. OpenAI's global publisher relationships have increasingly gone beyond simply paying for access to content. The company says its partnerships can help publishers make archives searchable, develop reader products, improve workflows, translate content and explore new business opportunities. In July, OpenAI said its work with news organisations was focused on helping publishers strengthen journalism, audience relationships and the businesses supporting news,” an industry executive said. 

The economics of the emerging market have added urgency to those conversations. According to the earlier e4m analysis, digital advertising and other non-print businesses already account for roughly 25–30% of the total revenue of Indian news publishers, as print circulation and advertising face structural pressure. AI licensing could potentially become another component of the digital revenue mix—but the size and durability of that revenue stream will depend on the terms of individual agreements.

Globally, the numbers have also established a significant benchmark. Industry estimates cited by e4m earlier put commitments by major technology companies—including Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta, Perplexity and Mistral—to news content at around $2.92 billion as of January 2025. The largest reported OpenAI agreement, with News Corp, was valued at more than $250 million over five years.

For Indian publishers, those numbers inevitably raise questions about how the value of local journalism will be determined.

But there is another consideration: traffic versus licensing revenue.

Even when ChatGPT provides attribution and a direct link to the original story—as both Indian partnerships promise—the discovery journey changes when a user can receive a summary or answer without first visiting a publisher's website.

For publishers whose digital businesses depend on advertising, subscriptions, registrations and audience data, the long-term value of referral traffic could therefore matter as much as the immediate licensing check.

This is where the Indian market could become an important test case.

India has a large, multilingual news ecosystem, significant mobile consumption and one of the world's fastest-growing AI user bases. The Indian Express deal alone demonstrates the complexity of that market, spanning seven languages and both current and archival content.

Will India get a broader publisher model?

Over the past year, OpenAI has significantly expanded its footprint in India. It opened an office in New Delhi in 2025 and has announced plans to open additional offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru later this year.

In February 2026, the company launched OpenAI for India. In August end, it rolled out its ad-based model and in September two leading publishers came on board. It launched ChatGPT Go in India as a lower-cost subscription tier and has pursued partnerships with major Indian companies and institutions.

It has also entered into a separate partnership with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which named ChatGPT an Associate Partner for India’s home cricket for two seasons, beginning with the West Indies series and running through March 2028.

The media industry's immediate focus is therefore likely to shift from who has signed to who is next—and on what terms.

OpenAI has already indicated that it wants to work constructively with publishers in India. In its BCCL (TOI group) announcement, OpenAI's Vice President–Media Partnerships Varun Shetty said the company wanted to build relationships with Indian publishers by listening to their priorities, respecting editorial independence and developing products that help readers connect with news.

“That leaves several unanswered questions for the wider publishing industry. In some countries, it has forged partnerships with the government. Whether that broader model eventually takes shape in India remains to be seen,” quips a news publisher.