OpenAI is expanding its advertising plans to Europe, with users of ChatGPT’s free and low-cost tiers set to start seeing ads from August 24. The move follows the company’s advertising rollout in the US in February and will extend access to advertisers across 31 European countries.
Ads will appear on the free ChatGPT service and for Go subscribers in Europe, who pay €8 ($9.30) per month. Premium subscription plans will remain ad-free. OpenAI said only a small share of its nearly 1 billion users currently pay for premium services.
“This expansion gives marketers across Europe a new way to reach people while they are actively exploring, comparing, and making decisions,” OpenAI said.
The advertising push comes as OpenAI continues to spend heavily while preparing for a potential initial public offering that could value the company at nearly $1 trillion. The company is also seeking funds to compete with US rival Anthropic and lower-cost Chinese AI models.
The move has raised concerns that advertising could affect users’ trust in ChatGPT if they believe responses are influenced by companies promoting their products or services. Anthropic, meanwhile, has highlighted its decision to remain ad-free as part of its marketing strategy.
OpenAI said conversations will remain private from advertisers and that customer data will not be sold. It also said, “Ads in ChatGPT are always clearly labelled and separate from ChatGPT’s answers, and advertising does not influence the answers ChatGPT provides.”
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