Australia will have to wait for ChatGPT Plus as OpenAI reveals US$20 subscription plan

OpenAI has officially announced a paid version of its viral AI tool, ChatGPT. Named ChatGPT Plus, it will be a subscription plan that costs users US$20 ($28) per month. But Australians will have to wait for it.

OpenAI first floated the idea of paying for ChatGPT back in mid-January. Co-founder and president Greg Brockman took to Twitter to announce that the company would pilot a professional version of the tool.

Brockman said that interested users could apply for a waitlist, which is still live as a Google Form.

The form also functioned as market research, asking prospective users how they use ChatGPT and how much they would be willing to pay for a premium version.

What’s the deal with ChatGPT Plus?

According to OpenAI, ChatGPT Plus will launch in a few weeks. But unfortunately for us Aussies, it will be US-only for now.

“ChatGPT Plus is available to customers in the United States, and we will begin the process of inviting people from our waitlist over the coming weeks. We plan to expand access and support to additional countries and regions soon,” an OpenAI blog post read.

We also know a little bit more about what ChatGPT Plus will offer:

• General access to ChatGPT, even during peak times;
• Faster response times; and
• Priority access to new features and improvements.

If US$20 seems a bit steep, or if you were hoping for a more professional option, you may be in luck.

OpenAI also said that it’s “actively exploring options for lower-cost plans, business plans, and data packs for more availability.”

The platform has certainly come a long way in just a handful of months. Launched at the end of November, it had more than 1 million users in just five days and began experiencing server overload problems within a couple of weeks.

Users have been using ChatGPT to write essays, speeches, interview questions, code and much more. TikTok is also awash with tutorials and tip videos on how to get better results and even launch businesses with ChatGPT.

The popularity of the platform has resulted in a plethora of conversations online regarding the morals and implications of AI tools, including work being stolen to feed some AI and potential copyright issues.