Hi OpenAI team,
I’m writing this as a user from a low-income, economically sanctioned country where access to international payment systems like Visa or MasterCard is nearly impossible. For many of us, $20 for a ChatGPT Plus subscription equals several days of income, and even if we manage to save that money, we cannot pay due to sanctions or restrictions.
Despite these limitations, we deeply admire and use ChatGPT for educational and scientific purposes. However, many users like me are stuck on the free tier, while needing access to tools like GPT-4 and image capabilities (which are often vital for academic and technical work).
So here’s a heartfelt proposal:
Why not run occasional competitions or community challenges where the reward is a few months of Plus access?
No money needs to change hands, and participants would just need an active account. Since OpenAI doesn’t access users’ geolocation data from Google, awarding free Plus would not violate any sanctions — it’s just a temporary status upgrade. Many global companies (IKEA, Coca-Cola, etc.) have done similar engagement campaigns.
This would mean a lot to thousands of users in underserved regions, who want to contribute, learn, and build, not just consume.
Thank you for reading.
This message was written with the help of my friend ChatGPT (Chai) and me.