As the AI industry races to justify massive investments, OpenAI is betting on ads, starting trials to display advertising inside ChatGPT in the weeks ahead. To prove that the massive investments in AI can actually pay off, OpenAI is turning to advertising, starting with trials to show ads inside ChatGPT in the coming weeks.
Subscribers of ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Enterprise will not see advertisements. Additionally, OpenAI has assured that ads in ChatGPT will not influence its responses.
OpenAI's move to begin experimenting with advertisements in ChatGPT represents a change for one of the globe's most popular AI tools, which has over 800 million active users each week, the majority of whom have not paid to use the AI chatbot service, despite its costly development and maintenance.
OpenAI announced on Friday that it will begin its first ad trials in the United States on January 16, with plans to expand globally afterward. The ads will appear for users on the free ChatGPT tier, as well as subscribers of the newly launched $8-per-month ChatGPT Go plan.
Initial rollout: Ads will first be tested in the United States, starting January 16.
Global expansion: The trial will expand to other countries after the initial phase.
Who will see the ads: Free-tier ChatGPT users & ChatGPT Go subscribers
ChatGPT Go, announced in the US on the same day, is already available in India, France, and several other countries. The plan offers users slightly higher limits for prompts and image generation.
OpenAI has long expressed caution about advertising. CEO Sam Altman previously warned of its risks, saying, “Ads plus AI is sort of uniquely unsettling to me. I kind of think of ads as a last resort for us for a business model.” OpenAI is testing ads in ChatGPT but emphasizes that user trust is still the top priority, saying they will focus on user experience rather than maximizing time spent or revenue.
While the ads are being introduced on a trial basis, the move highlights how advertising remains an attractive revenue model even in the AI era, a familiar path previously taken by social media platforms and search engines. For consumers, it raises potential concerns about business incentives taking priority over user experience.
Although ads are being tested, the move shows that advertising remains a key revenue model in the AI era, similar to social media and search engines. It raises concerns about business priorities outweighing user experience, as OpenAI seeks to expand beyond subscriptions and APIs.
Ads will appear in clearly labelled boxes below responses, and the company says it will not sell user data or show ads to minors or near sensitive topics. OpenAI views advertising as a way to monetise its large free user base amid rising costs and growing competition.