OpenAI Begins Testing Ads On ChatGPT For Free And Go Users In The US

Ads in ChatGPT: OpenAI is now testing ads within its ChatGPT app, a major change to the way the AI chatbot makes money. Ads will only be shown for free users and ChatGPT Go subscribers, the company says, and paid tiers are ad-free. Crucially, OpenAI has reassured that user conversations will not be shared with advertisers. The testing has started in the US, and could expand to other countries down the road.

Ads Roll Out for ChatGPT Free and Go Users

In a blog post, OpenAI confirmed that it has started a pilot programme to show ads to ChatGPT free and Go subscribers in the US. The company said that “a user's conversations, prompts, and other interactions will not be shared with advertisers.”

OpenAI added that users who want to avoid ads can upgrade to higher subscription tiers. Free users can also opt out of ads “in exchange for fewer daily free” prompts.

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Which ChatGPT Plans Will Show Ads?

OpenAI clarified that the following plans will not include ads:

- ChatGPT Plus

- ChatGPT Pro

- ChatGPT Business

- ChatGPT Enterprise

- ChatGPT Education

The company also said that ads “do not influence” ChatGPT’s AI-generated responses.

How Ads Will Work in ChatGPT

According to OpenAI, commercials in ChatGPT will “always” be clearly labelled as sponsored answers and will be “visually separated from the organic answer.” During the pilot, ads will be matched to the topic of a user’s conversation, their chat history, and past interactions.

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For example, if a user is looking for a recipe, ChatGPT might show ads for meal kits or grocery delivery services. And if more than one advertiser is applicable, ads will be ranked according to relevance and appear at the top.

User Control and Privacy Options

Users will be able to dismiss ads, give feedback, see why a specific ad is being shown, delete ad data, and manage ad personalisation settings. OpenAI said the move is driven by “significant infrastructure and ongoing investment” required to run ChatGPT at scale.