Opendoor shuts down India operations, sparking debate over whether AI is reshaping the economics of offshore outsourcing.

What happened: Opendoor, a San Francisco-based online home-buying platform, is closing its India offices less than two years after opening them in 2024. The company had nearly 250 employees in India across Chennai and Bengaluru. CEO Kaz Nejatian cited a shift toward smaller AI-native teams and bringing operational work back to the U.S.

Why it matters: India hosts over 2,100 Global Capability Centers (dedicated offshore units multinationals use for IT, finance, R&D, and back-office work) employing about 2.36 million people and generating nearly $100 billion（約16兆円） in annual revenue. Investors and outsourcing analysts see Opendoor's move as a sign that AI may be reducing demand for the labor-intensive offshore work that has made India a global hub. Phil Fersht, CEO of outsourcing advisory firm HFS Research, called it part of a "broader pattern" where companies are redesigning operations around AI and automation, requiring less operational labor overall.

What to watch: Opendoor itself has been cutting headcount broadly—its global workforce fell from 1,470 a year earlier to 1,042 by the end of last year, and its non-U.S. workforce dropped from 342 employees at the end of 2024 to 184 by the end of last year. Analysts note this is a complicated case study; the India exit may reflect Opendoor's own struggles in the U.S. housing market as much as it signals a broader AI-driven shift in how companies organize work.