More than 20,000 transitioning servicemembers and veterans have claimed a year of ChatGPT Plus at no cost in the past year, OpenAI said in a Veterans Day announcement.
The company said the effort started with veterans on its staff and that OpenAI Academy and community partners have hosted more than a dozen trainings for nearly 1,000 members of the military community, with seven more scheduled before the end of the year. It thanked ID.me for helping people access the offer. Upcoming events listed on the post include an NPower session in St. Louis on Nov. 12, a Nashville workshop with Veterans Forge and the Wounded Warrior Project on Nov. 14, a 30-minute virtual session on Nov. 17, and NPower events in Dallas on Nov. 19 and San Antonio on Nov. 21.
OpenAI described veterans using the subscription to organize job searches, rehearse interviews and explore civilian careers. Air Force veteran Tilak Bhatnagar, the company said, used the free year to prepare for a dozen interviews and weigh job offers; he later took a role at a tech company and said “each conversation built on the last.” Sadarian Bell, also an Air Force veteran, called ChatGPT “my career coach” after using voice mode to practice interviews. Navy veteran Kelli Ramirez said the tool helped her organize ideas and work through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing process; she has since published two books, OpenAI said.
The company said a six-event Academy series with Veterans Forge has wrapped, and that a Reston, Virginia, workshop drew nearly 100 veterans and active-duty servicemembers. In Louisville, more than 80 Legionnaires attended three sessions at the American Legion’s national convention, the post said. The announcement is OpenAI’s account of its own program and the people it chose to feature; it does not disclose how many people started and then canceled after the free year, or the standard Plus price after the promotion ends.