A few days ago, OpenAI rolled out its “low-cost subscription” ChatGPT Go to 170 countries, after an initial pilot.
For US$8 a month (or SGD $13), you get “10x more messages, file uploads and image creation than the free tier, so you can keep chatting with no limits on GPT‑5.2 Instant. Longer memory and context window, so ChatGPT can remember more helpful details about you over time.”
However, in the fine print, OpenAI says that “This plan may include ads”. Huh? In that case, you might as well stick to using the free tier of ChatGPT, and switch to the free versions of Gemini or Claude when needed. It’s quite obvious that OpenAI is trying to figure out its way to profitability, and ChatGPT Go is not going to be of much help.
Currently, I subscribe to both ChatGPT Plus and Google Gemini AI Pro (both US$20 a month) and if you just want one subscription, Google is a better deal – You get faster and better image generation, AI capabilities within Google Docs (Google Sheets is amazing with AI capabilities), more capacity in NotebookLM (2026’s best AI app so far), and the best feature is two terabytes of Google Drive storage. I keep all my work files in Google Drive and switch between computers frequently, so 2TB of cloud storage is fantastic for my needs.
Subscription pricing is both a science and an art. I have been subscribing to Spotify and Netflix for over a decade and have never blinked whenever they raised their prices, because my entire family uses them daily. I subscribe to The New York Times for their excellent writing, but I often forget to visit the site because the subscription is affordable (US$50 a year).
On the other hand, I refuse to subscribe to Canva (US$13/mth) because I don’t see why I have to pay to access basic editing functions that I use in PowerPoint. I also think the subscription pricing of Perplexity (US$20/mth), Gamma (US$10/mth), Elevenlabs (US$20/mth) are all too high for my needs.
AI companies need to realise that consumers and companies have limited budgets, and most people have been trained by ChatGPT to assume Gen AI is a free tool like Google Search. If they don’t want the AI bubble to burst, they need to figure out their pricing.
What I wrote in the past few weeks
Lots of links here, because I’ve been too busy to write this newsletter in 2026:
Gen AI is great for simulating what colour a bento box should be, which matters more than you think.
My conversations with random people help me to see the true level of AI literacy in Singapore.
I really like this infographic generated by Gemini from the NYT article “35 Health Tips That Experts Swear By”. You can download it as a poster from my site.
It’s a cool feature, but at this time, please avoid letting Gen AI clean up your messy computer desktop.
I’ve been running the Straits Times Masterclass for Gen AI for two years, and we have expanded its scope to meet the needs of different audiences. The next set of Masterclasses will be in April 2026.
More evidence that parents need to stop letting toddlers play with devices.
Please update your Out-of-Office message with a few critical things.
I’ve been vibe coding apps to improve my Chinese language. Here’s a new one.
How long is your computer password?
Is this the Holy Grail of laptop backpacks? For now, it is for me.
My general directions for 2026, visualised.
A serious way to have fun with Gen AI.
This is your AI girlfriend without makeup.
My new tiny 4K webcam kit that I throw into my backpack and use with my laptop.