Google is accelerating its global expansion of AI services. The company recently announced that its more affordable AI Plus subscription plan is now available in over 40 countries, covering markets such as Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, the Philippines, Senegal, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.
This AI Plus plan was first launched in Indonesia earlier this month, priced at 75,000 Indonesian Rupiah per month (approximately $4.5). In most countries, the package is priced at around $5, and Google said it will offer a 50% discount for six months in certain areas such as Nepal and Mexico.
The AI Plus plan gives users access to the Gemini 2.5 Pro model, as well as image and video creation tools such as Flow, Whisk, and Veo 3 Fast. Users also get additional features from the AI research assistant NotebookLM, AI capabilities in Gmail, Docs, and Sheets, and 200GB of cloud storage space.
The day before this announcement, OpenAI announced that its ChatGPT Go plan priced below $5 had expanded to Indonesia. Notably, the Indian market where OpenAI first launched ChatGPT Go is not included in Google's current expansion list.
Both companies offer a standard subscription plan priced at $20 per month, but by launching these more affordable subscription tiers, they are trying to attract more paying users in regions where a $20 monthly subscription may be too expensive.
Industry analysts believe that tech giants are expanding into emerging markets through differentiated pricing strategies, a trend reflecting the urgent demand of AI service providers for global user growth. By offering more affordable packages in developing countries, Google and OpenAI are both striving to expand their user base for AI services and capture a larger share of the rapidly growing global AI market.
