AI for All: Malta is giving away ChatGPT Plus to its citizens – under one condition

ChatGPT inventor OpenAI has entered into a partnership with the southern European island nation of Malta, which is considered the first of its kind. As part of this collaboration, ChatGPT Plus will be made available free of charge to all residents of Malta.

Free AI course

However, the prerequisite for using the free subscription is that those interested first complete an AI course specially developed by the University of Malta, as stated in a corresponding communication from OpenAI. This course is also free.

In the online course under the motto “AI for All”, participants will learn how AI can be used safely, ethically and effectively, as the responsible authority, the Malta Digital Innovation Authority, explains. Among other things, it concerns the protection of privacy and personal data and how misleading AI results can be identified.

Those interested can register on a newly developed platform using an e-ID card. Both residents of Malta and nationals living abroad are eligible to participate.

ChatGPT Plus for 1 year

Free access to ChatGPT is valid for one year after successfully completing the course. If you want to use ChatGPT Plus, you can save at least 276 euros, assuming a subscription price of 23 euros per month, as is common in Germany and Austria.

Since concrete details about the deal and potential demand are still missing, it is not clear what costs Malta or OpenAI will incur. If all of Malta’s 450,000 adult residents wanted to use ChatGPT Plus in this way for a year, this alone would correspond to a value of over 120 million euros.

AI skills for all Maltese

“Malta is the first country to launch a partnership of this magnitude because we refuse to let our citizens be left behind in the digital age. We put our people at the forefront of global change,” said Maltese Minister for Economy, Enterprise and Strategic Projects Silvio Schembri.

The initiative aims to ensure that all Maltese residents have the opportunity to build the conviction and skills needed to survive in a digital world. And that should apply regardless of your own background, as Schembri believes.