OpenAI is offering its ChatGPT Go plan available free of charge for one year to users in India who sign up during a limited promotional period beginning November 4, as the company looks to expand in one of its top markets.
On Tuesday, OpenAI announced the promotion but did not specify how long the offer would be available. Current ChatGPT Go subscribers in India will also be eligible for the free 12-month plan, the company said.
Priced under $5 per month, ChatGPT Go launched in India in August as OpenAI’s most affordable paid subscription plan. The service was later extended to Indonesia and, earlier this month, to 16 other Asian countries.
India, the world’s most populous country with over 700 million smartphone users and over one billion internet subscribers, has been a key market for OpenAI. The company opened its New Delhi office in August and is currently building a local team to expand its presence.
Earlier this year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claimed 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 proven challenging. The app recorded more than 29 million downloads in the 90 days prior to August, but generated only $3.6 million in in-app purchases during that period, according to Appfigures data reviewed by TechCrunch at the time.
ChatGPT Go offers 10 times more features than the free version for generating responses, creating images, and uploading files. It also features improved memory for more personalized responses, according to OpenAI.
“Since the initial launch of ChatGPT Go in India a few months ago, the adoption and creativity we’ve seen from our users has been inspiring,” said Nick Turley, Vice President and Director of ChatGPT, in a statement. “We’re excited to see the amazing things our users will build, learn, and accomplish with these tools.”
OpenAI’s rivals, including Perplexity and Google, are also seeking to tap into 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. Likewise, Google introduced a free one-year AI Pro plan for students in India.
