Sam Altman may have a $2.5 billion ‘plan’ to offer access to ChatGPT’s premium plan for free to all users of this country

Sam Altman, the CEO and co-foudner of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, has discussed a potential £2 billion ($2.5 billion) deal to offer free premium access to

ChatGPT

for all residents of the United Kingdom, a report claims. The proposal was reportedly discussed in a meeting with

UK technology secretary

Peter Kyle as part of a broader conversation about collaboration between OpenAI and the UK. A report by The Guardian cited two sources with direct knowledge of the meeting to claim that the The suggestion initially came up during a wider conversation in San Francisco about potential areas of collaboration between OpenAI and the UK. The report also notes that Kyle did not take the idea seriously, in part due to its high cost. However, the talks, highlight the UK government's enthusiasm for the AI sector, despite ongoing concerns about the technology's accuracy, privacy, and copyright implications.Currently, OpenAI offers both free and subscription-based access to ChatGPT. The paid plan,

ChatGPT Plus

, is priced at $20 per month and offers quicker responses along with early access to new features.

What OpenAI said about ChatGPT Plus deal with the UK

Referring to the UK being ranked among the company’s five biggest markets for paid ChatGPT subscriptions, an OpenAI spokesperson said: “Millions of Brits are already using ChatGPT every day for free. In July, we signed an MoU [a memorandum of understanding] with the government to explore how we can best support the growth of AI in the UK, for the UK. In line with the government’s vision of using this technology to unlock economic opportunity for everyday people, our shared goal is to democratise access to AI. The more people who can use it, the more widely its benefits will spread.”Apart from the US, the company recently held discussions with multiple governments and reached an agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to “enable ChatGPT nationwide,” integrating the technology into public sectors such as transport, healthcare, and education.As per UK government transparency data, Kyle met Altman for dinners in March and April. By July, Kyle had signed a non-binding agreement with OpenAI to explore the use of AI in UK public services, which could grant the company access to government data and potentially see its software applied in areas such as education, defence, security, and the justice system.“ChatGPT is fantastically good, and where there are things that you really struggle to understand in depth, ChatGPT can be a very good tutor for it,” the minister told PoliticsHome earlier this year.