OpenAI expands affordable ChatGPT Go plan to 16 Asian countries, boosting global reach amid fierce AI competition

OpenAI is expanding its affordable ChatGPT Go subscription plan to 16 new countries across Asia, making the under-$5-per-month tier available in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Timor, and Vietnam. In Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Pakistan, users can now pay in their local currencies, improving accessibility. In the other countries, the plan remains priced at approximately $5 per month, with final costs adjusted based on local taxes and exchange rates. ChatGPT Go offers users increased daily limits for messages, image generation, and file or image uploads. It also provides double the memory of the free version, enabling more personalized and context-aware interactions. The expansion follows strong growth in Southeast Asia, where OpenAI reports a fourfold increase in weekly active users. The plan was first launched in India in August and in Indonesia in September. Since then, paid subscribers in India have doubled, signaling strong demand for affordable AI access. This move positions OpenAI directly against Google, which launched its Google AI Plus plan in Indonesia in September and has since rolled it out to over 40 countries. Google’s tier includes access to Gemini 2.5 Pro, its most advanced AI model, along with creative tools like Flow for design, Whisk for image remixing, and Veo 3 Fast for video generation, plus 200GB of cloud storage. The timing of the expansion coincides with OpenAI’s DevDay 2025 conference in San Francisco, where CEO Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT now reaches 800 million weekly active users globally—up from 700 million in August. The company also unveiled a major platform evolution: the integration of apps directly within ChatGPT, transforming the chatbot into a dynamic ecosystem akin to an app store. Partners such as Spotify, Zillow, and Coursera are now accessible through dedicated apps inside ChatGPT. “The evolution we’re trying to make over the next few years is one where ChatGPT itself is more like an operating system where you can come and use applications,” said Nick Turley, head of ChatGPT, speaking on the sidelines of the event. “If you want to write, there’s an app for that. If you want to code, there’s an app for that. If you want to interact with goods and services, there are applications for you.” Despite OpenAI’s $500 billion valuation and rapid user growth, the company reported a $7.8 billion operating loss in the first half of 2025 due to continued heavy investment in AI infrastructure. Affordable subscription tiers like ChatGPT Go are central to its strategy—balancing global expansion with long-term financial sustainability, especially in high-potential markets like Asia where competition with Google is intensifying.