OpenAI Brings Ads to ChatGPT

Picture Credit: The Guardian

OpenAI is taking its first major step into advertising, announcing that ads will soon be tested on the free version of ChatGPT for logged in adult users in the United States. Alongside this shift, the company has introduced a new $8 per month subscription tier called ChatGPT Go, marking a significant change in how the AI giant plans to monetize its rapidly growing user base.

The new Go plan sits between the free version and OpenAI’s existing paid tiers, Plus at $20 per month and Pro at $200 per month. Subscribers will gain access to enhanced features such as longer memory retention and increased image generation limits. However, unlike the higher tier plans, Go users will still see advertisements. Only Plus, Pro, and enterprise customers will remain completely ad-free.

This move comes despite OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s long standing discomfort with advertising. In previous interviews, Altman has openly criticized ads, once describing the idea of mixing them with AI as “uniquely unsettling.” Still, OpenAI’s financial reality appears to have forced a rethink. The company is supporting an estimated 800 million monthly users while committing roughly $1.4 trillion to AI infrastructure over the next eight years. Altman has said OpenAI expects annual revenue to reach about $20 billion by the end of 2025, but that figure still falls far short of its long term spending plans.

Advertising is seen as a potentially powerful revenue stream, particularly given how conversational AI understands user intent. For instance, someone asking ChatGPT to plan a holiday could later see sponsored hotel or activity suggestions related to that destination. During the test phase, ads will appear beneath responses, clearly marked as “sponsored.”

OpenAI has emphasized safeguards to maintain trust. The company says ads will not influence how ChatGPT answers questions, user conversations will not be sold to advertisers, and ad personalization based on chats can be disabled. Ads will also be excluded from sensitive areas such as health, mental health, and political discussions and users under 18 will not see ads at all.

This strategy builds on OpenAI’s broader push to make ChatGPT more embedded in everyday life. Last year, it launched “Instant Checkout,” allowing users to purchase products from retailers like Walmart and Etsy directly through the chatbot, along with new health and learning tools aimed at boosting engagement.

The decision is not without risk. Chatbot conversations can be deeply personal, and critics worry about the ethical implications of inserting commercial content into such spaces especially as OpenAI continues to face legal scrutiny over how its AI affects vulnerable users.

Still, OpenAI is far from alone. Meta has already begun using AI chatbot interactions to refine ad targeting, signaling that advertising may soon become a standard feature across AI platforms. For OpenAI, the challenge now is clear, generate sustainable revenue without eroding the trust that made ChatGPT a global phenomenon.

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