OpenAI announced on its blog that it is piloting advertisements inside the ChatGPT conversational AI for users in the United States. The trial targets both the free tier and the cheapest subscription plan, giving people a chance to see ads while keeping the service accessible.
Subscribers who prefer an ad‑free experience can switch the feature off, but they will then be limited to a reduced number of free messages each day. This mirrors the approach many free‑to‑use platforms take to balance user experience with revenue generation.
The move follows OpenAI’s mid‑January statement about introducing ads to its American user base. It also comes after a cheeky Super Bowl ad by rival Anthropic, which mocked the concept by inserting a fake dating‑site commercial into a chatbot conversation. OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, called the stunt "funny but clearly deceptive."
OpenAI emphasized that the advertisements will not influence the answers the model provides. Instead, the revenue will help fund the massive computing power and ongoing research required to keep the AI running at scale.
With only a small fraction of its over a billion users paying for the premium version, OpenAI faces pressure to open new income streams. While private‑equity valuations have pushed the company’s worth to around $500 billion, and a potential $1 trillion IPO has been hinted at, the cost of the high‑end hardware needed for AI remains a major drain on resources.
By experimenting with ad‑based monetisation, OpenAI aligns itself with tech giants such as Google and Meta, whose free services are largely sustained by advertising revenue. The trial will reveal whether this model can be adapted to a conversational AI without compromising user trust.