OpenAI cites US roots to dodge India courts, but lawyers say case can be heard

OpenAI faces an uphill climb in the Indian legal system

OpenAI faces an uphill climb as it argues that Indian courts cannot hear lawsuits about its U.S.-based business in the country, where Telegram has failed with similar defences and U.S. technology firms have faced government heat on compliance.

OpenAI, which counts India as its second biggest market with millions of users, is locked in an intense court battle triggered by domestic news agency ANI for alleged use of copyright content.

The case gained prominence in recent weeks as book publishers and media groups, including those of billionaires Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, banded together to oppose OpenAI in the case.

OpenAI, which is facing new challenges from Chinese startup DeepSeek's breakthrough cheap AI computing, has maintained it builds its AI models using public information in line with fair use principles. The company faces similar copyright infringement lawsuits in U.S., Germany and Canada.

Details of legal rebuttals by OpenAI in other markets are not known, but in New Delhi it is opposing ANI by saying in court filings its usage terms call for dispute resolution only in San Francisco, it is beyond the jurisdiction of Indian courts and it "does not maintain any servers or data centres" in the country.

"It's a pre-Internet era argument which will not fly in Indian courts today," said Dharmendra Chatur, a partner at Poovayya & Co., which advises foreign tech companies.

"Google, X, Facebook all perform services through their foreign companies and are party to litigation across India," Chatur added, explaining courts typically assess if a website is accessible and offers services to customers in India in deciding the point.