AI tech giant Nvidia, which makes the graphics processing units (GPUs) that run AI models, and ChatGPT maker OpenAI, announced partnerships with Indian industry and academia on Wednesday (February 18, 2026), during the AI Impact Summit. The former will work with three firms — Yotta (which runs data centres), L&T, and E2E Networks. The latter has signed on with multiple universities with a view to “strengthening AI use among students”.

India AI Summit 2026, February 17 updates

“India’s AI cloud infrastructure will host workloads as well as manufacture intelligence for model training, fine-tuning and high‑scale inference,” Nvidia said in a statement. “Capacity within these data centers will be reserved for model builders, startups, researchers and enterprises to build, fine-tune and deploy AI in India.” The firm will provide Indian partners with access to Nemotron and NeMo, the former being a family of open source LLMs and the latter a software suite for managing AI agents.

OpenAI has partnered multiple higher education institutes, namely IIT-Delhi, IIM-Ahmedabad, AIIMS New Delhi, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, and Pearl Academy. OpenAI India’s head of education Raghav Gupta said “By embedding AI tools, training, and research into the core infrastructure of schools and universities they can equip students with the skills needed to thrive in a world with AI.”

One lakh students and staff will benefit from the partnership, OpenAI said. “To expand AI capabilities beyond campuses and into the broader skilling ecosystem, OpenAI is also collaborating with leading ed-tech platforms including PhysicsWallah, upGrad, and HCL GUVI,” the firm said.

“These platforms will launch structured courses focused on AI fundamentals and practical ChatGPT use cases, targeting students and early-career professionals seeking industry-ready skills. This complementary pathway ensures that AI fluency is not confined to select institutions but scaled across India’s rapidly growing learner base,” it added.