AICTE partners with OpenAI to distribute free ChatGPT licenses to Indian students and educators

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has formalized a collaboration with OpenAI, which includes providing 150,000 free ChatGPT Go licenses for six months to students and faculty across AICTE-affiliated institutions.

Additionally, through this partnership, government school teachers across classes 1–12 will also gain access to ChatGPT. This move aims to enhance digital literacy, employability, and the practical use of AI in education.

This collaboration forms part of OpenAI’s broader India-first Learning Accelerator initiative, designed to bring sophisticated AI tools and training to educators and learners across the nation.

The initiative targets access to AI-supported learning—particularly through ChatGPT—as part of its educational ecosystem development.

A key feature of the initiative is an investment of $500,000 (approximately ₹4.5 crore) by OpenAI in partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras). The grant supports long-term research on the role of AI in education.

OpenAI has described India as a “lighthouse” for its global education strategy, underscoring the country’s central role in shaping AI-enabled learning.

The partnership will involve training programs and tools like ChatGPT’s Study Mode, designed to support step-by-step personalized learning for students.

AICTE Chairman TG Sitharam emphasized the significance of the initiative, noting that AI is not merely advancing technology but playing a critical role in shaping the country’s technical workforce.

This partnership aligns with broader efforts, such as the Ministry of Education’s engagement with OpenAI to expand AI access among school teachers and ARISE member schools, reinforcing a nationwide push toward AI literacy.