OpenAI Just Launched a ChatGPT Program for Small Businesses: Here’s What Australian SMBs Need to Know

OpenAI announced a support program for small businesses this week. Before you get excited about in-person AI training sessions, there’s one thing to know up front: the academy events are US-only. But there’s still something here for Australian operators.

Here’s what the program actually includes, what’s available to you today, and what it costs.

What’s in the program

The ChatGPT for small businesses program has four main components:

Virtual training webinars: hands-on sessions covering accounting, marketing, and ecommerce. You get demos, prompts to try, and workflow walkthroughs. AU SMBs can sign up for these right now.
In-person AI academies: US only, for now. These are local events where business owners get guided instruction and peer support. By OpenAI’s own reporting, participants do walk away with working AI workflows, but that’s the US experience at this stage. Not available to you in Australia yet.
New guides and resources: customer stories, interactive prompt guides you can load directly into ChatGPT Work, and short videos. All accessible online.
Partner integrations: Dropbox, Shopify, Intuit, Slack, Atlassian, Wix. Skills and workflow connections built for small business use cases, with some promotional offers attached.

What does it cost?

The program itself is free to join. What you’re paying for is ChatGPT Work, OpenAI’s agent tier for businesses.

Pricing in Australian dollars:

Regular: ~AU$32 per seat per month (annual plan)
Promotional: ~AU$28 per seat per month until 30 September 2026

For a solo operator or a two-person team, that’s manageable. For a team of ten, you’re looking at $280–$320/month. Worth doing the maths before you commit.

AU SMBs: what you can do today

You can sign up for the virtual webinars at openai.com/business/why-openai/small-business/. The webinars cover actual use cases, not conceptual fluff. If you’ve been sitting on the fence about whether ChatGPT can do anything useful for your business, these sessions are worth checking out before you pay for a subscription.

The partner integrations with Shopify and accounting tools like Intuit are directly relevant to AU businesses using those platforms. If Xero or MYOB integrations appear later, that’ll be when this gets more interesting for the typical AU small business owner.

How does this compare?

If you’re weighing up your options, how does it compare to Microsoft Copilot? Copilot integrates more tightly with Microsoft 365, which many AU SMBs already use. ChatGPT Work is more open-ended: better for custom workflows, less friction for teams not already in the Microsoft network.

There’s also free government support available through what the National AI Centre offers, worth checking if you’re at the early stages and not ready to spend on a subscription yet.

With nearly half of AU small businesses now using AI, the question isn’t really whether to engage with these tools. It’s which ones fit your actual workflow. The AI adoption gap between businesses that use these tools and those that don’t is widening, and it’s showing up in hours worked and costs.

Bottom line

If you want the full OpenAI experience with in-person events, you’ll need to wait or book a flight. But the virtual program is real and available now. Sign up, attend a webinar, and see if it fits before you commit to a subscription.

Start here: openai.com/business/why-openai/small-business/

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