The Calcutta High Court reversed its earlier order, refusing to direct OpenAI to surface IndiaMart links on ChatGPT. This ruling is India's first on whether businesses can sue AI platforms for silently excluding them from search results. For 8.3 million suppliers on IndiaMart, this means no legal recourse if ChatGPT cuts off discovery.
How We Got Here
Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur in December 2025 found a "strong prima facie case" for IndiaMart, citing selective discrimination. OpenAI's defense hinged on the USTR's 2024 Notorious Markets List, which flagged IndiaMart for alleged IP violations, despite its non-binding status in India.
The Numbers
- India has 100 million weekly ChatGPT users, the world's second largest base.
- IndiaMart alleged ChatGPT bypassed it to link directly to individual supplier sites, cutting off discovery for 8.3 million suppliers and 42 million buyers.
- OpenAI's exclusion happened without notice, hearing, or an independent assessment.
- Navneet Sharma, a Competition Policy Professor, called the USTR list's use a "digital sovereignty concern" for Indian businesses.
- Foreign marketplaces like DHGate and Pinduoduo, also on the USTR list, continued to appear on ChatGPT.
What Happens Next
🇮🇳 Why This Matters for India
For Bangalore and Delhi-based B2B marketplace founders, this ruling highlights a massive blind spot in current laws regarding AI platform access and competitive fairness.
The Take
This ruling signals a troubling green light for global AI platforms to become de facto regulators, using non-binding foreign lists to shape market access for Indian businesses. Founders building discovery platforms need to factor in this new "AI gatekeeper" risk, which could easily be weaponised by bigger players.
Source:
MediaNama ↗