The UK’s discussion with OpenAI provides a glimpse of a potential future where governments become mass purchasers of AI services on behalf of their citizens. The £2 billion proposal for national ChatGPT Plus access could be a forerunner of a new kind of social welfare in the digital age.
Just as governments provide or subsidise essential services like healthcare and education, some futurists argue they will eventually need to do the same for critical digital tools. As AI becomes essential for employment and daily life, state intervention may be required to ensure equitable access.
The conversation between Peter Kyle and Sam Altman was one of the first high-level explorations of this concept by a major Western government. It treated a commercial AI subscription less like a luxury good and more like a potential public entitlement.
Though the UK found the price too high today, this idea is unlikely to disappear. As AI technology becomes more powerful and indispensable, the pressure on governments to step in as mass purchasers to prevent a new form of inequality will only grow.