OpenAI is making its entry-level paid AI plan, ChatGPT Go, completely free for one full year to every user in India who signs up during an upcoming promotional window starting November 4, in a sweeping bid to cement its foothold in the world’s largest internet market.
The San Francisco-based AI leader confirmed the limited-time offer on Tuesday, though it stopped short of revealing the promotion’s exact end date.
Even current ChatGPT Go subscribers in India will automatically roll into the complimentary 12-month period, the company added.
Launched in India this past August at under $5/month (roughly ₹420), ChatGPT Go is OpenAI’s most budget-friendly subscription tier.
The plan has since rolled out to Indonesia and, earlier in October, to 16 more Asian nations.
With over 700 million smartphone owners and more than a billion internet connections, India represents a colossal growth engine for global tech firms. OpenAI opened a New Delhi office in August and is aggressively hiring local talent to deepen its regional presence.
CEO Sam Altman previously disclosed that India ranks as OpenAI’s second-biggest market globally, trailing only the United States.
Yet monetizing paid plans here has been an uphill battle: the ChatGPT mobile app racked up 29 million downloads in the three months ending August but pulled in just $3.6 million in in-app revenue during that stretch, per Appfigures data.
ChatGPT Go delivers 10× higher usage caps than the free tier for text generation, image creation, and file uploads, plus enhanced memory for more contextual replies.
“The creativity and adoption we’ve witnessed from Indian users since launching ChatGPT Go have been nothing short of inspiring,” said Nick Turley, VP and head of ChatGPT. “We can’t wait to see what they build, learn, and accomplish with these expanded tools.”
Rivals Circle the Same Prize
OpenAI isn’t alone in courting India’s young, tech-savvy population:
– Perplexity recently teamed up with telecom giant Airtel to bundle free Perplexity Pro access for all 360 million Airtel customers.
Google rolled out a free one-year AI Pro plan exclusively for Indian students.
DevDay Exchange Lands in Bengaluru
OpenAI will host its inaugural DevDay Exchange developer conference in Bengaluru on November 4, the same day the free ChatGPT Go promotion kicks off.
Expect India-centric product reveals targeting local developers and enterprises.
“Excited for our first DevDay Exchange event in India on November 4. Ahead of that, we have some exciting updates coming for India users over the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned!”
India now stands among the fastest-growing regions for daily ChatGPT engagement, with millions of active users, OpenAI says.