What’s the story?
Imagine if every person in the UK had access to ChatGPT’s advanced version. It sounds futuristic, but according to recent reports the idea was actually discussed at high levels. OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman reportedly met with UK technology secretary Peter Kyle to float a multibillion-pound deal that would give all UK residents ChatGPT Plus access. This subscription (normally £20 per month) offers faster responses plus access to new features and additional features; essentially putting cutting-edge AI in everyone’s pocket. While the deal could have cost up to £2 billion, Kyle “never really took the discussions seriously” due to the hefty price tag. Still, the fact it was on the table shows how enthusiastically some officials are embracing AI. In Altman’s words, the goal is to “democratise access to AI” because “the more people who can use it, the more widely its benefits will spread.”
The idea of nationwide access isn’t without precedent. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has already signed a deal with OpenAI to “enable ChatGPT nationwide,” integrating the tech into transport, healthcare, and education. By contrast, in the UK this notion has quickly sparked debate. On one side are critics who balk at the £2 billion price, arguing the money would be better spent on more immediate needs. But I take a different view and see transformative potential in a nationwide rollout. Let’s explore both perspectives and what it could mean for business owners and marketers.
Other priorities: coverage, connectivity and basics first
Sceptics of the ChatGPT-for-all idea have a quick retort: why not fix the basics first? It’s a fair question. Large parts of the UK still struggle with something more fundamental on the tech side than AI; a reliable internet or phone signal. Since I bought my first mobile phone in 1997, I’ve struggled to get connected in most of Cornwall and large areas of Gloucestershire. One village near Cheltenham held the dubious title of worst broadband in Britain a few years back – averaging just 0.14 Mbps download speed (almost 1,900 times slower than the fastest street in the country). And a Telegraph analysis in 2025 found that almost half of Britain struggles to browse the internet due to patchy mobile coverage. It’s hard for some to imagine the UK government spending budget on AI subscriptions when you can’t even get a basic phone signal in parts of the UK.
There’s also the argument about universal broadband. Back in 2019, then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn proposed making full-fibre broadband a public utility, free for everyone. That plan was costed at around £20 billion to cover the whole UK by 2030 – ten times the price of this ChatGPT scheme. Corbyn’s rationale? Broadband had become a “basic utility” and needed public investment to ensure equal access and boost the economy. “Fast and free broadband for all will fire up our economy, deliver a massive boost to productivity and bring half a million people back into the workforce,” he promised. Critics at the time derided it as a fantasy or “crazed” idea. Sounds familiar, right? The parallels are hard to ignore: free AI access in 2025 is getting a reaction similar to free internet in 2019. In both cases, people worry that the government might be neglecting more urgent infrastructure needs. If parts of Cornwall still don’t have decent 5G or if some businesses in Gloucestershire can’t get fibre broadband, is it really wise to fund a premium AI service for everyone?
For small businesses and residents in rural areas, these concerns are very real. A boutique owner in a village can’t run an online shop or even card payments reliably without connectivity. It’s the classic “walk before you run” argument. Will Guyatt, LBC’s Tech Correspondent, voiced this cost-first scepticism, suggesting the £2 billion idea was too expensive and out of touch during a cost-of-living crisis. And he’s not alone – online commentators quipped that such an idea felt like something out of the satirical publication The Onion, especially given the UK’s tight budgets and recent cuts to other projects. But isn’t this just whataboutery?
A transformational vision: AI for all
Now, let’s flip the script – because there is another side. As an AI enthusiast and someone who works in digital marketing, I can’t help but see the enormous upside if a nationwide ChatGPT rollout were done right. Yes, £2 billion is a lot of money but it’s better thought of as an investment rather than a cost. Think of it as investing in a new kind of infrastructure: AI infrastructure that could pay dividends in productivity, skills and innovation across the economy. The UK’s tech secretary clearly gets it – Peter Kyle has used ChatGPT himself to brainstorm policy ideas and seek advice on why UK small businesses lag in AI adoption. He’s called ChatGPT “fantastically good” as a tutor on complex topics. In one interview Kyle argued that AI can unlock huge efficiency savings. Keir Starmer also recently claimed £45 billion in potential savings by deploying AI in government. So from the top levels, there’s a sense that AI is a golden opportunity not to be missed.
Economic benefits of nationwide AI access
- Boosting Productivity: AI could help tackle Britain’s notorious productivity puzzle. A recent study from the University of St Andrews found that small and medium businesses adopting AI saw productivity gains ranging from 27% up to 133%. Those are staggering numbers. Why such a boost? Because AI can act like a force-multiplier by saving time, automating mundane tasks, crunching data, and offering insights at superhuman speed. For example, a sole trader or a 5-person startup could use ChatGPT to handle customer enquiries, generate marketing content, or do basic legal/accounting drafting. Things that used to consume hours (or require hiring extra staff) can be done in minutes. One tech consultant in Birmingham noted how an engineering firm cut a process from 12 days to 6 seconds using AI, transforming their efficiency (Source: West Midlands Combined Authority, 2024). Multiply such gains across thousands of businesses and you get a more productive economy overall.
- Job Creation and New Businesses: Wait, doesn’t AI steal jobs? There’s plenty of doom and gloom on that, but history shows technology also creates jobs often in areas we can’t predict yet. By upskilling the entire workforce in AI, the UK could become a magnet for new tech startups and investment. Research suggests communities with AI-trained workers are better positioned to start new businesses and modernise local industries. It’s the idea that if everyone has access to cutting-edge tools, innovation can come from anywhere. Think about the entrepreneur who might discover a new AI-driven product or the marketer who launches an agency offering AI-enhanced creative services. Lower the barrier to advanced tech, and you spur a wave of new business formation and tech-savvy startups. Plus, someone has to build, maintain, and customise all these AI applications – that’s more demand for developers, AI trainers (that’s me!), and IT professionals. The West Midlands is already moving on this: Mayor Richard Parker just unveiled a £10 million plan to give every adult in the region free training in using AI. He sees it as economically imperative to prevent an AI skills divide and to create 100,000 new jobs in high-tech industries. That’s the kind of visionary leadership proponents argue the whole country needs. Rather than shy away from AI, we should embrace it, so the UK can lead and not lag. This kind of nationwide access would make us unique in Europe and give the UK a genuine competitive edge. Either that or risk being overaken by countries that follow the UAE.
- Improving Digital Skills: Many small business owners and employees want to get better with digital tools but don’t know where to start. A national ChatGPT Plus rollout could be paired with education initiatives, much like Parker’s AI for citizens idea, to massively improve general digital literacy. Think of it as a crash course for the nation in working alongside AI. People who might never have tried these tools (or didn’t want to pay for a subscription) would suddenly have them available. That hands-on experience is huge. It demystifies AI and builds confidence. Over time you’d have millions of workers comfortable using AI for everyday tasks. That’s an investment in human capital. Parker noted that “as jobs become increasingly digital and data-driven, AI will become a core skill just like English or maths”. Providing the tool to everyone would send a powerful signal that the UK is serious about that.
- Levelling the Playing Field: One exciting aspect of giving every business access to the same AI power is the democratisation of tech. Today, a big corporation can afford enterprise AI and data science teams, while a small family business cannot. But if even a local bakery or a freelance graphic designer can use ChatGPT Plus, they suddenly gain abilities closer to those of larger competitors. It’s like arming the little guys with some of the same superpowers as the giants. Generative AI can act as an equaliser, helping a one-person marketing team produce content at the volume and quality of a much larger team. As OpenAI’s spokesperson said, “the more people who can use it, the more widely its benefits will spread.” This could mean more competition, more innovation, and better services across the board, driven by small business creativity supercharged by AI. And it’s worth remembering that small businesses are the backbone of the UK economy, accounting for a staggering 99.2% of the business population and around 52% of private sector turnover (Source: Federation of Small Businesses, 2024).
What it would mean for small businesses and marketers
Let’s get practical. If you’re a small business owner or a marketing professional, how could free ChatGPT Plus access actually help you day-to-day? In short, it could be huge for productivity and creativity in your business. Here are a few examples:
- Social Media and Content Creation: We all know consistent content is king, but it’s tough for many of us to regularly produce blog posts, social updates, and email newsletters. This is where ChatGPT can help. It can generate high-quality ideas or drafts in seconds, freeing you from the blank-page syndrome. You could say: “Give me a friendly 200-word blog about this week’s trending topic in my industry,” and you’ll have a solid first draft to refine. You can even have a voice conversation to brainstorm and develop ideas. For a shop owner, that might mean quickly creating product descriptions and TikTok captions. For a marketing consultant, it could mean outlining a client’s marketing plan or suggesting creative angles for an ad campaign. Generative AI can tailor the tone whether that’s professional, casual, humorous so your content stays on brand. It’s like having a copywriting assistant on call 24/7 and unlike us humans it never gets tired. And yes, AI was used in the making of this blog post.
- Customer Service and Sales: Ever thought about having a 24/7 virtual assistant? With ChatGPT, you can. ChatGPT Plus could be integrated into your website as a chatbot to answer frequently asked questions, help customers find products, or even handle initial sales inquiries (ask me how). A small e-commerce site could train the AI on its product catalogue and common support questions. Then in the middle of the night when you’re asleep, a customer can ask, “Do you have this shoe in size 7 and what’s the return policy?” and the AI can respond immediately. This improves customer experience and takes mundane tasks off your plate, freeing you to focus on higher-level work. Octopus Energy, for example, saw customer satisfaction rates for email responses increase from 65% to 80% when using ChatGPT. Many other businesses are using AI for customer services and sales, and it’s improving lead conversion because responses are instant. It’s easy to imagine how having AI available everywhere would normalise this. Customers will come to expect this level of service, and even very small businesses could provide it without hiring expensive call centres.
- Marketing and Analytics: Tools like ChatGPT can help analyse your marketing data or give you ideas based on trends. For example, you could paste in your last five Facebook ads and ask, “Which one performed best and why? How can I improve the others?” The AI might point out that the ad with a question in the headline got more clicks, suggesting you try that style again. It can brainstorm catchy slogans, draft press releases, or even translate your ad copy into different languages to reach more customers online. If everyone had ChatGPT Plus, even those who aren’t tech-savvy could tap into these capabilities with a bit of experimentation. The result? More informed, data-driven small businesses. Instead of flying blind or spending heavily on consultants, you’d have an on-hand analyst. Peter Kyle used ChatGPT to ask which podcasts he should go on to reach a wider audience. For a local entrepreneur, maybe you’d ask which social media platforms to prioritise for your demographic, or how to improve your SEO or AEO ranking and get immediate, personalised suggestions.
- Skill Building and Learning: Small business owners often learn on the fly. With universal ChatGPT access, learning new skills becomes easier. Want to run your own Google ad campaign but don’t know how? You could ask ChatGPT to “teach me the basics of Google Ads and walk me through setting up my first campaign for a budget of £50.” It can provide step-by-step guidance, tips, and even simulate decisions with you. It’s like an interactive tutor. People could upskill in digital marketing, coding, design, or even learn a new language – all by just asking the AI. Beyond that, it can act as a coach, prompting you with quizzes, role-playing scenarios, or generating tailored learning plans. For a time-poor entrepreneur, this means turning short gaps in the day into focused mini-learning sessions. Over time, that steady exposure compounds into real expertise, helping business owners learn new skills without expensive training courses.
Of course, none of this is to say AI is magic or always gets it right. We know ChatGPT can sometimes generate incorrect information or odd answers. It’s a tool that needs human oversight. But giving people access is the first step to figuring out how to best use it. The more that business owners experiment with AI, the more use cases they’ll discover. It fosters a culture of innovation. And importantly, the UK’s small businesses could collectively save huge amounts of time on routine tasks, allowing them to focus on growth, strategy, and creativity – the things humans do best and enjoy most. That’s the vision I have in mind for a nationwide ChatGPT rollout.
Conclusion: Balancing basics and bold bets
So, should the UK government have spent £2 billion to give everyone ChatGPT Plus? It’s a bold proposition, and it understandably raises eyebrows but the answer is ‘Yes!’. On one hand, we have pressing infrastructure needs. I’m not denying that better broadband and phone coverage are essential, especially for rural and underserved areas. But whilst related these are separate issues.
On the other hand, big ideas often sound crazy at first until they become the norm. Free AI access might sound like a luxury, but in a decade could it be seen as basic infrastructure, just as broadband has become? The author of this blog (hello 👋) firmly believes that AI can be transformational for those who embrace it.
The potential boosts to productivity, skills, business growth and the wider economy are hard to ignore. Rather than dismiss the idea due to cost alone, perhaps the question should be how we could implement a rollout for all in a cost-effective way. The balance lies in fixing today’s connectivity issues while investing in tomorrow’s opportunities and AI might just be one of the bold bets the UK cannot afford to miss.