OpenAI has expanded its affordable ChatGPT Go plan to 16 new countries across Asia, as part of efforts to deepen access to artificial intelligence tools in emerging markets.
The plan is now available in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Timor, and Vietnam.
According to OpenAI, users in select markets such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Pakistan can now pay for the ChatGPT Go plan in local currencies, while users in the remaining countries will pay approximately $5 USD, depending on local tax regulations.
The subscription plan offers several upgrades over the free version, including higher daily message limits, enhanced image generation, and expanded file and image upload capabilities. It also comes with double the memory capacity, allowing ChatGPT to deliver more personalized interactions for users.
Backstory
OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Go in August 2025 as part of its plan to make artificial intelligence more affordable and accessible to a wider audience.
The plan was first launched in India in August 2025, at a monthly subscription cost of ₹399, making it OpenAI’s cheapest paid tier at the time. The decision to start in India was driven by the country’s fast-growing AI adoption rate and the dominance of mobile payments through platforms like UPI, which allowed local users to pay in rupees instead of U.S. dollars. The plan quickly gained traction, and OpenAI reported a sharp rise in paid subscriptions within weeks of the rollout.
Following its success in India, OpenAI expanded ChatGPT Go to Indonesia in September 2025. The company said it chose the region because of its growing digital population and the increasing use of AI tools among small businesses, educators, and content creators.
In both countries, ChatGPT Go gave users extended daily limits for messages, access to image generation and file uploads, and twice as much memory as the free version benefits previously reserved for premium subscribers.
Southeast Asia user base quadruples
OpenAI said the expansion reflects the company’s growing user base in Southeast Asia, where usage of ChatGPT has increased significantly over the past few months.
The company noted that its weekly active users in the region have grown by up to four times, driven by greater mobile adoption and increasing digital literacy across emerging markets.
What you should know
Just like OpenAI, Google launched its own Google AI Plus plan in Indonesia in September and has since expanded it to over 40 countries.
Google’s Plus tier gives subscribers access to Gemini 2.5 Pro, the company’s most advanced AI model, along with creative tools for image and video generation such as Flow (for design), Whisk (for image remixing), and Veo 3 Fast (for video creation). The plan also includes 200GB of cloud storage, appealing to creators and professionals seeking integrated productivity features.
CEO Sam Altman disclosed that ChatGPT has reached 800 million weekly active users globally, a sharp increase from 700 million in August.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company now has 4 million developers building on its platform, with over 800 million weekly ChatGPT users and more than 6 billion tokens processed per minute through its API. The company reported its weekly active users surpassing 400 million in February
Despite its rapid growth and record valuation, OpenAI continues to operate at a loss as it invests heavily in infrastructure and AI development. The company reportedly recorded a $7.8 billion operating loss in the first half of 2025 while pushing toward profitability.
