BENGALURU (Reuters) -ChatGPT parent OpenAI will open its first India office in New Delhi later this year, deepening its push in its second-largest market by user numbers. 

OpenAI, which is backed by Microsoft, has been established as a legal entity in India and has begun hiring a local team, the company said in a statement shared with Reuters on Friday.

India is a critical market for ChatGPT, where it launched its cheapest yet monthly plan at $4.60 just this week, targeting the nearly one billion internet users in the world's most populous nation.

OpenAI faces legal challenges in India, with news outlets and book publishers accusing the firm of using their content without permission to help train ChatGPT. The company has denied any wrongdoing.

"Opening our first office and building a local team is an important first step in our commitment to make advanced AI more accessible across the country and to build AI for India, and with India," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in the statement.

The company faces strong competition in India from rivals like Google's Gemini and AI startup Perplexity, both of which have launched offerings that make their advanced plans free for many users in the market. 

India has the largest population of student users on ChatGPT, and weekly active users here have quadrupled in the past year, OpenAI said in newly shared market data on Friday.