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Many technology experts believe our path in tech was forever changed with the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022. And since then, we’ve often heard about it in the news and social media. We’ve heard about users’ shocked reactions, exaggerations about its intelligence, claims about its consciousness, etc. And all this ChatGPT news and a sense of awe, fear, and confusion led to some countries banning the chatbot. In this article, we’ll try to talk about the potential reasons for such decisions and review the best VPN for Chatgpt, so you can freely explore this powerful AI tool.
What’s All the Fuss About?
If we want to provide an answer to why some countries banned ChatGPT, we should first know why it’s a big deal. Why did it get so many positive and negative reactions? And how is it different from previously introduced chatbots?
The answer to these questions can be explained with three important aspects of its training process:
- Unsupervised learning with large-scale data
- Transformer-based architecture
- Reinforcement learning
ChatGPT is trained on immensely large data collected from the internet. Using this text-based information, it learned language patterns (like the relationship between words in a sentence). The second aspect of its training process refers to how it generates responses. Generative Pre-trained Transformer, or GPT model for short, basically means that the chatbot can be attentive to all specific parts of the input text and better understand the coherence between the words. This feature is what makes ChatGPT’s responses accurate and to the point. And lastly, reinforcement learning is a human-based technique used in the chatbot’s training to finetune its behavior and make sure it doesn’t generate harmful, insulting, and irrelevant responses.
These features make ChatGPT a powerful tool for a variety of purposes. You can ask it to do your school homework, write a 3000 words long article that will surprise your unappeasable college professor, prepare a thesis draft, write business emails, clean your code, give you ideas for your next meal, etc. We have previously seen all these capabilities in other language models, but the quality? It’s unprecedented. That’s why ChatGPT reached 100 million users within 2 months after its original release and became the fastest-growing app of all time.
ChatGPT and Geo-restrictions
There are some countries in which ChatGPT isn’t freely available. These restrictions fall into two categories: 1. Regional restrictions set by governments, 2. Restrictions set by Openai in some countries that stop them from accessing Openai’s API.
Governmental restrictions also have two general reasons; it’s either due to data privacy issues or fear of misinformation. Among countries that have banned the use of ChatGPT for privacy matters, Italy, as the only Western country to set such a restriction, is the most surprising one.
Italy restricted its citizens from using ChatGPT since it believes this tool violates European data protection protocols such as GDPR. The main areas in which they think ChatGPT is problematic are improper age control systems, the use of people’s personal data to train AI models without their consent, and AI’s potential for generating inaccurate information. And Italy isn’t the only Western country with such concerns. Policymakers in other European countries like Ireland and France have expressed doubt about this popular chatbot. However, Italy is so far the only one to take action based on these concerns.
Italy banning ChatGPT should be regarded as a positive alert. In this AI-driven world, we’ve come to a point where everything is irreversible, and it’s only by asking good questions, setting boundaries, and holding AI companies accountable that we can form a safe future. As Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, twitted a short while after the initial release of ChatGPT, this ongoing revolution requires guidance and direction.
“also, once a technological revolution starts, it cannot be stopped. but it can be directed, and we can contintually figure out how to make the new world much better.”
– Sam Altman (@sama on Twitter)
Other Countries like China and Russia have also forbidden their citizens from using ChatGPT mainly because of their political conflicts with America. Chinese regulators have claimed “fear of misinformation” is the reason behind their decision and have encouraged tech firms to develop a local AI model. However, based on the country’s previous bans and its strict Internet regulations, banning ChatGPT sounds like an act of censorship rather than a positive act of data protection.
These geographical restrictions can be two-sided. For example, ChatGPT stopped providing its services to Ukraine for a short while. This is because ChatGPT doesn’t allow Russia to access its API, and some parts of Ukraine, including Crimea, are under Russia’s occupation. But fortunately, this regional ban has been revoked.
If you’re curious to know whether you can access ChatGPT from your region, you can check OpenAI’s list of available countries.
With all the valid and invalid concerns over the use of ChatGPT, it’s important to note that ChatGPT’s growth and development require our constant use, just like its training process, which was reliant on direct human feedback and interaction. Our persistence in using ChatGPT can also have personal purposes besides AI’s development. After all, it’s a powerful and magical tool that can make our lives drastically easier. ChatGPT may not be the most accurate tool possible, but it is a great assistant willing to do a lot of work in only a few seconds.
In the upcoming sections of the article, we’ll try to provide you with some methods you can use to bypass these restrictions, while emphasizing that we do not advocate for doing so.
Why Using a VPN Is the Best Solution for Bypassing Limitations Against ChatGPT?
Just like any other Internet access limitation, bypassing restrictions against ChatGPT requires a VPN to mask your IP. All the prying eyes watching your Internet activity and setting strict rules for it can be easily blinded with a secure VPN connection. The reason for the extra security and privacy provided by a VPN is hidden in how it works. A VPN provider sets up a remote server, and a VPN allows you to make an encrypted tunnel to that server. This encrypted tunnel acts as a shield to cover your Internet activity and your IP address. So, your ISP and government authorities can’t monitor your actions. Since a VPN changes your IP address, OpenAI won’t be able to know where you’re located. This way, you can also bypass OpenAI’s geographical restrictions along with governmental filtering.
In addition to saving you from censorship, using a VPN with ChatGPT can also resolve your privacy issues. A VPN doesn’t allow OpenAI to collect your personal information, such as location and IP address.
The Best Free VPNs to Use With ChatGPT
If you don’t consistently use ChatGPT for serious professional or educational purposes, a free VPN that offers the minimum requirements will be enough for you. Here, we’ve listed the best free VPNs to get ChatGPT unblocked. It’s important to note that most free VPNs apply some sort of limitations on their free plans that can affect your connection to ChatGPT. You can use these free VPN services if OpenAI’s services are not available in your country.
Provider | Speed limit | Data usage limit | Duration limit | No logs policy | Additional info |
Hotspot shield | A maximum speed of 2 Mbps | 500 MB/ day | ✖️No limit | ✔️ | Its free servers are only in the US. |
Windscribe | A maximum speed of 10 Mbps | 10 GB/month | ✖️No limit | ✔️ | Include firewall and ad-blocker |
ProtonVPN | ✖️No limit | ✖️No limit | ✖️No limit | ✔️ | Free VPN servers in the US, Netherlands, and Japan. |
hide.me | A maximum speed of 3 Mbps | 10 GB/month | ✖️No limit | ✔️ | Free servers in the US, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, and Singapore |
These are the best VPN for ChatGPT that you can use with zero cost. All of these options have the minimum requirements for a secure connection and can hopefully be enough for communicating with ChatGPT and exploring the capabilities of AI.
[rh-cta-related pid=”24543″]The Best Paid VPNs to Use With ChatGPT
If you work with ChatGPT for professional purposes, investing in a good VPN plan sounds like an efficient idea. In this part of the blog post, we’ve listed four of the best paid VPN plans to use with ChatGPT.
Cloudzy
If you’ve previously worked with VPNs, you know that sometimes they can be hassling. Server downtime and performance issues, security risks, and lowering the speed are among the most common problems of VPNs. Although at Cloudzy we don’t offer a VPN as a product, you can buy a server and host your own VPN using available tutorials. Since using a VPS for hosting your own VPN server provides you with a limitation-free internet connection, by hosting your own VPN on a VPS, you can remediate all the common VPN issues.
Hosting your own VPN server also protects your privacy and security by ensuring that no third-party provider has access to your data. Here’s a list of reasons why Cloudzy’s VPS is a wise choice as a self-hosted VPN:
- Access to any desired VPN protocol.
- Strategic server locations in The US, Asia, and Europe.
- Pay as You GO payment method: With PAYG, you don’t pay monthly. You pay for as long as you wish to have the server.
- 99.5% uptime: Almost no connection interruption.
- Speed: Experience fast and latency-free connection which is necessary for real-time communication with ChatGPT.
These features make our Cloud VPS an excellent alternative to traditional VPN methods, making it the best VPN for ChatGPT that can improve your communication with this Chatbot.
[rh-cta-cloud type=”2″ ]Express VPN
Express VPN is a popular VPN that offers competitive features. Some of those features that make it a great tool for ChatGPT use are listed below:
- Strong encryption method: Express VPN uses AES-256 cipher, which is almost impossible to decrypt.
- Use of Wireguard protocol: One of the newest tunneling protocols that are fast and efficient.
- More than 3000 active servers in 94 countries.
Express VPN plans start at 6.67$ per month, which can be considered costly. However, its perfect compatibility with ChatGPT requirements is astounding.
NordVPN
NordVPN is one of the most reputable VPN providers in the market. Its reputation comes down to three factors:
- Use of NordLynx protocol: NordLynx is NorcVPN’s special tunneling protocol that’s developed based on WireGuard. The use of this protocol enhances speed without affecting the performance of your device.
- Multi-hop VPN: NordVPN allows you to connect to multiple VPN servers for added security and privacy, making it impossible to trace your connection.
- Large server fleet: To bypass Internet limitations and censorship, you need access to a variety of server locations. NordVPN allows you to access global content and free information with its large server network.
NordVPN plans start at 3.29% per month, making it a featureful offer with a reasonable price.
Surfshark
Surfshark is probably the cheapest paid VPN that’s good enough for a hassle-free ChatGPT connection. Here’s a list of its notable features:
- Large server fleet: Surfshark has over 3200 active servers in 100 countries.
- Use of WireGuard tunneling protocol.
- Use of AES-256 encryption method.
Surfshark plans start at only 2.30$ per month.
Things to Consider When Choosing a ChatGPT VPN
For a fast and hassle-free connection to ChatGPT, your VPN should have a number of essential factors. When you use a VPN for more privacy, your VPN requirements differ from when you use one to bypass geo-restrictions. A few factors, like strong encryption methods, are enough for privacy and security purposes. However, going around filtration and staying anonymous online requires more than that.
- Kill-switch: If ChatGPT isn’t available in your country and you connect to it from a server in another country, it’s important to keep mocking the location change during your connection. If you lose your Internet connection or get disconnected from your VPN, your personal information shouldn’t be exposed. That’s exactly what a kill switch does. A kill switch is a mechanism to prevent IP leaks by automatically disconnecting you. The best VPN for ChatGPT definitely has a functional kill switch.
- No logs policy: You don’t want your information to be stored as much as you don’t want them to be exposed. Some VPN providers have strict rules for not keeping a log of your online activities. No logs policy reserves your information from being monitored by third parties and ensures that your online activities are private and anonymous. Many VPN providers falsely claim that they have a strict no-logs policy, but in reality, they keep some of your data. So, make sure that you read their privacy policy and terms of service carefully.
- Range of server locations: If you want to access information that’s not available in your country but is available in other regions, you should make sure that your provider has servers in those regions. For example, if you’re from China and want to access ChatGPT, you shouldn’t buy an Italian or Russian VPN server. You should get a VPN that has a wide range of server options in different parts of the world where OpenAI’s services are available.
To Recap
ChatGPT is one of the most powerful AI tools that can handle a wide range of tasks and assist you in your daily life and career. However, ChatGPT is not available to use in some countries for a set of reasons. The best method for going around these restrictions and accessing ChatGPT is using a VPN. In this article, we reviewed free and paid options for the best VPN for ChatGPT. When access to Internet-based services is blocked by governments or huge tech companies, the best way to reserve your right to use these online services is to turn on your VPN.
FAQ
Why do I need to use a VPN for ChatGPT?
If ChatGPT is not available in your country or if you don’t want AI companies to collect your personal information, you should use a VPN to mask your IP address and change your location.
Why is ChatGPT banned in some countries?
Over the past few months, some countries, such as Italy, have banned their citizens from using ChatGPT for privacy concerns or fear of misinformation and spreading fake news like China.
Can we use ChatGPT for free?
OpenAI offers the 3.5 version of ChatGPT for free. However, the most recent version, which is ChatGPT 4, costs 20$ per month.
How do I choose the best VPN for ChatGPT?
When choosing a VPN for ChatGPT, make sure you pay attention to speed, performance, privacy, and security—factors like a functional kill switch. No logs policy and a robust encryption method have the highest level of importance.