Purpose: The discussion about using Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT) by teachers is making notable progress on a daily basis. This research examines the teachers' adoption intention to adopt ChatGPT by focusing on perceived trust and perceived risk. The study seeks to elucidate the impact of these two factors on teachers' adoption intentions towards ChatGPT. Design/methodology/approach: This study was exclusively conducted at private higher educational institutions in Gujarat, India. Data collection was done through a cross-sectional survey design. The proposed conceptual model was examined with the help of structural equation modelling (SEM). Findings: The outcome of the study confirms the significant contribution of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived trust, perceived intelligence, perceived anthropomorphism and social influence to teachers' intention to adopt ChatGPT. The findings of the study show that perceived risk exerts a negative moderating effect between perceived usefulness and adoption intention as well as between perceived trust and adoption intention. Research limitations/implications: This study fills the knowledge gap about teachers' adoption of ChatGPT at private higher education institutions, thus contributing to the existing literature. Specifically, the distinctive role of key variables like perceived risk and perceived trust helps increase the existing body of knowledge. Practical implications: Several practical implications are presented on the basis of the conclusions from the outcome of the study that would help increase teachers' adoption intention of ChatGPT in higher education institutions. These implications include recommendations to promote the integration of ChatGPT in educational set-ups to help teachers leverage its potential benefits into their teaching practices. Originality/value: This research study goes deeper into the subject than previous research, which mainly focused on the possible advantages and downsides of ChatGPT applications in the field of education. It makes a substantial contribution to our understanding of ChatGPT adoption among teachers for educational purposes by investigating through the lens of perceived risk and perceived trust. The study offers fresh understandings that were previously ignored and brings new perspectives to the body of literature.