OpenAI is providing its ChatGPT Go plan free of charge for one year to users in India. This offer is available to anyone who signs up during a limited promotional period starting November 4. The company is taking this step to expand its presence in one of its most important markets.
On Tuesday, OpenAI announced the promotion but did not specify an end date for the offer. Existing ChatGPT Go subscribers in India will also be eligible for the free 12-month plan.
Originally launched in India this past August, ChatGPT Go is OpenAI’s most affordable paid subscription, priced at less than five dollars per month. The service has since expanded to Indonesia and, earlier this month, to 16 additional countries across Asia.
India represents a key market for OpenAI. It is the world’s most populous country with over 700 million smartphone users and more than a billion internet subscribers. The company opened its New Delhi office in August and is currently building a local team to grow its footprint.
Earlier this year, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman stated that India was the company’s second-largest market after the United States. However, generating revenue from ChatGPT’s paid plans in the country has been difficult. The app saw more than 29 million downloads in the 90 days leading up to August, but it generated only 3.6 million dollars in in-app purchases during that time, according to data from Appfigures.
The ChatGPT Go plan offers significant advantages over the free version. It provides ten times more usage for generating responses, creating images, and uploading files. It also includes improved memory for more personalized interactions.
A company executive expressed enthusiasm for the plan’s adoption in India, noting the inspiring creativity from users since its initial launch a few months ago. The company is excited to see what users will build and achieve with these tools.
OpenAI’s competitors are also targeting India’s large and youthful user base. Perplexity recently partnered with Airtel to offer free Perplexity Pro subscriptions to the telecom operator’s 360 million subscribers. Google similarly introduced a free one-year AI Pro plan for students in India.
OpenAI is scheduled to host its DevDay Exchange developer conference in Bengaluru on November 4. The company is expected to make India-specific announcements aimed at local developers and enterprises. India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing markets for ChatGPT, with millions of users engaging with the chatbot daily. A company executive recently confirmed that exciting updates for Indian users are coming in the weeks ahead.