OpenAI will begin testing advertisements inside ChatGPT within the next few weeks, the company announced Friday, a move that could reshape how more than 800 million weekly users interact with the world’s most popular AI chatbot.
At a Glance
- Ads will appear only on the free tier and the new $8-a-month Go tier.
- Users on Plus, Pro, and Enterprise plans will not see ads.
- Ads will sit in labeled boxes below ChatGPT’s answers and will not alter responses.
- Why it matters: The trial could open a major revenue stream for a company that has raised $64 billion but earned only a fraction of that last year.
The initial tests will run in the United States before expanding worldwide. OpenAI stresses that advertisements will never influence the chatbot’s answers. If someone asks for New York City travel tips, they will receive the same unbiased guidance, followed-if the algorithm sees fit-by a labeled ad for a local hotel.
“People trust ChatGPT for many important and personal tasks, so as we introduce ads, it’s crucial we preserve what makes ChatGPT valuable in the first place,” wrote Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of applications, in a company blog post. “That means you need to trust that ChatGPT’s responses are driven by what’s objectively useful, never by advertising.”
Who Will See the Ads
- Free-tier users
- Go-tier subscribers ($8 per month)
- U.S. rollout starts Friday; Go tier already live in India, France, and other regions
- Users flagged as under 18 by self-disclosure or an upcoming age-prediction model will be excluded
- Topics deemed sensitive-health, mental health, politics-will remain ad-free
OpenAI will not sell personal data or share conversation logs with advertisers. Advertisers will receive only aggregate metrics such as impressions and click-through rates. Topic matching, not personal profiling, will decide which promotions appear. Still, some personalization data may factor into ad selection, though users can disable that feature without losing other personalization settings. The company declined to specify exactly which data points will be collected, but users may delete ad-related data at any time.
Advertising Principles
- No influence over core answers
- No access to private conversation content
- No use of identifiable user data for targeting
- Clear opt-out controls without degrading core features
- Extra safeguards for minors and sensitive subjects
Interactive formats are on the horizon. Simo says conversational interfaces open the door to richer experiences than static banners or links. “For example, soon you might see an ad and be able to directly ask the questions you need to make a purchase decision,” she explained, hinting that future placements could allow follow-up queries about products or services.
Why OpenAI Needs the Money
Despite the chatbot’s massive user base, the majority of people never pay. Competition from Google’s Gemini and other rivals is intensifying pressure to convert popularity into profit. The decade-old startup has raised roughly $64 billion from investors, yet last year’s revenue remained a small slice of that total. A scalable ad business could help close the gap while keeping basic access free.
Critics worry the platform could follow the well-worn path from user-focused service to ad-saturated ecosystem. CEO Sam Altman has publicly criticized the engagement-at-all-costs model of social media, acknowledging addictive algorithms harmed society. Simo reiterated that OpenAI optimizes for “user trust and user experience over revenue,” noting the company does not design for time-on-platform the way many social apps do.
For now the ad format is strictly a trial. Businesses interested in running campaigns inside ChatGPT will receive more details in the coming weeks. If the experiment succeeds, advertising could become a pillar of OpenAI’s business model, with Simo steering future roll-outs.
Key Takeaways
- Ads launch first in the U.S. on free and Go tiers; no ads for paying Plus, Pro, or Enterprise customers.
- Promotions are topic-matched, not behavior-targeted, and will never appear beside health or political content.
- Users can opt out of ad personalization without disabling core memory or customization features.
- Revenue from the tests could help OpenAI monetize its giant user base without charging everyone.
- Long-term success hinges on maintaining user trust while balancing business needs, a balance the company concedes is delicate.
