New Delhi: 

The premium version of ChatGPT, which usually costs $20 per month (around ₹1,740), will now be available at no cost in the UAE. This means every resident in the country will get access to faster responses, GPT-4 features, and other ChatGPT Plus benefits without paying anything.

In a major move that could reshape how countries roll out AI to their people, the United Arab Emirates has become the first country to offer ChatGPT Plus for free to all of its 11 million citizens and residents. The announcement was made as part of a broader partnership between the UAE and OpenAI, under the newly launched “Stargate UAE” program.

Stargate UAE and a big bet on AI

The Stargate UAE project is being built in Abu Dhabi and is backed by several major tech partners including G42, Oracle, NVIDIA, Cisco, and SoftBank. It will eventually include a one-gigawatt supercomputing cluster, with 200 megawatts going live in 2026. OpenAI said the facility could serve compute needs across a 2,000-mile radius, potentially reaching up to half the world’s population.

OpenAI confirmed that this is the first time any government has enabled full, nationwide access to its services. The company added that it worked closely with the U.S. government on the agreement.

This rollout is tied to Stargate UAE, which OpenAI describes as its first international deployment of frontier-scale AI infrastructure. The project is part of “OpenAI for Countries,” a global initiative aimed at helping governments build national AI capability. The UAE is the first to sign on.

Not just access, but influence

According to OpenAI, the partnership will help the UAE use its AI tools in sectors like healthcare, energy, education, and transport. It also plans to use ChatGPT to support public services and citizen engagement.

OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon is expected to visit Asia Pacific next week to explore similar partnerships with other governments. The company said its long-term goal is to develop up to 10 such country-level AI collaborations under its “OpenAI for Countries” strategy.

This move by the UAE could now set a global precedent, showing how national-level access to AI tools might shape how people learn, work, and interact with technology on a daily basis.

The deal also includes UAE investment into OpenAI’s U.S.-based Stargate infrastructure. This ties into a larger $1.4 trillion investment plan the UAE announced earlier this year, aimed at supporting American technology and job growth.

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