Kathmandu: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has announced a strategic partnership with OpenAI to provide Dubai residents with free access to ChatGPT Plus, a premium AI chatbot service. This initiative, if successfully implemented, could position the UAE as a global pioneer in artificial intelligence adoption, attracting worldwide attention from digital policymakers and tech users.
Currently priced at $20 per month, the premium ChatGPT Plus subscription will be fully subsidized by the UAE government. Reports suggest that this initiative is linked to the “Stargate UAE” megadata center project, being developed in collaboration with OpenAI and the Abu Dhabi-based G42 technology group. This data center aims to deliver an AI supercomputing cluster with an initial capacity of 200 MW, scaling up to 1 GW when fully operational.
The government outlined three main goals behind offering free access to ChatGPT Plus:
- Expanding citizen-centric digital government services
- Enhancing AI skills within the private sector
- Boosting global AI research through the Stargate center
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called this project a “bold vision,” emphasizing its potential to democratize the benefits of large language models across sectors like education and healthcare.
Similarly, UAE’s Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Omar Al Olama, emphasized that providing direct access to premium AI tools is the simplest way to raise AI literacy among the general public.
ChatGPT Plus includes advanced features like the new GPT-4o model, higher usage limits, and real-time data analysis, delivering faster, more stable, and higher-quality responses compared to the free version. However, the official rollout date of the initiative has not yet been announced.
If implemented soon, this could greatly benefit the large Nepali workforce residing in Dubai as well.
