OpenAI has announced that it will start testing advertisements on ChatGPT for some users in the United States. The move is aimed at boosting revenue to support the high costs of developing and maintaining advanced artificial intelligence systems.
The company said the ads will be shown to users on its free tier and the lower priced Go plan, which is now being rolled out globally. The ads will appear in the coming weeks and will remain separate from the answers generated by ChatGPT.
Users on the Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise plans will not see any advertisements. OpenAI also clarified that advertising will not influence ChatGPT responses and that user conversations will not be shared with marketers. This marks a major shift for the company, which has so far relied mainly on subscriptions. The decision reflects growing pressure to increase revenue as it spends heavily on data centres and prepares for a much awaited initial public offering.
The company, which is currently operating at a loss, plans to invest more than one trillion dollars in artificial intelligence infrastructure by 2030. However, it has not yet shared details on how this spending will be funded.
Analysts believe that ads could unlock a large revenue opportunity, given ChatGPT has around 800 million weekly active users. However, some warn that poorly placed or intrusive ads could affect user trust and push people towards rival chatbots such as Google Gemini or Anthropic Claude. An industry analyst said this move could also force competitors to explain their own earning models, especially those claiming to be ad free.
OpenAI added that it will not show ads to users under 18 and will block ads linked to sensitive topics such as health and politics.
“We plan to test ads at the bottom of answers in ChatGPT when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current conversation,” the company said.
The ChatGPT Go plan, first launched in India, will be available in the United States for eight dollars per month.
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