After weeks of teasingOpenAI has begun testing ads in ChatGPT in the United States, marking a major shift in the product’s business model and user experience. The rollout affects those on free plans and the new, lower-cost ChatGPT Go plan. Users of paid tiers such as Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise will remain ad-free.
The company says this ad-first experiment is part of its efforts to support broader access to powerful AI capabilities while helping fund the infrastructure and development that allows ChatGPT to operate at scale.
The company says the ads will be clearly labeled as sponsored and visually separated from the chatbot responses.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, filed a lawsuit in April against OpenAI, alleging that it violated Ziff Davis’ copyrights in the training and operation of its AI systems.)
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Controlled advertising and confidentiality
According to OpenAI, the ads will not influence chatbot responses or compromise privacy. Conversations and personal chat data will not be shared with advertisers. You’ll also have control over your advertising experience, including customization options or the ability to opt out completely in exchange for fewer free messages.
As part of the rollout, each ad is tailored to the topic a user is already discussing, although safeguards are in place to prevent ads from appearing in sensitive contexts, such as discussions about health or politics.
The company emphasizes that this initial phase is a test and learn opportunity. Feedback from early adopters will help shape how ads are refined and potentially expanded in the future. OpenAI says it will use information from this pilot to better balance monetization with user experience.
The wider implications
The introduction of ads in ChatGPT comes amid growing competitive pressure in the AI sector and increased expectations around sustainable revenue models for large AI platforms. Although the move has received mixed reactions from users and industry observers, OpenAI maintains that the ads are intended to subsidize free and low-cost access.
As testing continues, OpenAI’s approach will likely influence how other AI companies think about monetization and the role of advertising in conversational AI tools, even if some platforms: like Anthropic — have “promised” never to include advertisements. Anthropic even hosted a Super Bowl series advertisementsmocking the idea of ads appearing in AI discussions. In one, for example, a young man asks the AI to help him get six-pack abs, and the AI, in the form of a personal trainer, starts helping him, then starts selling fictitious insoles that will make him grow taller.
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