OpenAI is now officially bringing ads to its popular chatbot – starting February 9, it has begin rolling out ads to a limited set of US users on its free and low-cost ChatGPT Go subscription tiers, marking the company’s first formal step into advertising within its flagship chatbot.
“Today, we’re beginning to test ads in ChatGPT in the U.S. The test will be for logged-in adult users on the Free and Go subscription tiers. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education tiers will not have ads. Ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you, and we keep your conversations with ChatGPT private from advertisers. Our goal is for ads to support broader access to the more advanced ChatGPT features while maintaining the trust people place in ChatGPT for important and personal tasks. We’re starting with a test to learn, listen, and make sure we get the experience right,” the AI firm announced in a blog post.
Ads will appear only at the bottom of ChatGPT responses, clearly labeled as “sponsored,” and separated from the AI’s organic answers. OpenAI has repeatedly emphasized that advertisements will not influence or alter the content of ChatGPT’s replies. Users on the free tier and the $8-per-month Go plan (introduced globally in mid-January) are eligible to see ads; subscribers to Plus ($20/month), Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education plans are exempt. In addition to this, no ads will appear in conversations involving sensitive or regulated topics such as health, mental health, or politics, nor will minors under 18 be shown promotions.
OpenAI is matching ads to users based on three signals: the current conversation topic, past chat history, and previous interactions with advertisements. For example, a user researching recipes might see promotions for grocery delivery services or meal kits. The company stresses that advertisers receive only aggregate performance data (such as views and clicks) and have no access to individual conversations, memories, or personal user information. Users will be able to dismiss any ad and provide feedback, view why a specific ad was shown, delete ad interaction history with one click, disable personalization entirely, as well as opt out of ads on the free tier (in exchange for fewer daily messages).
Still, as one of the most widely used chatbots with hundreds of millions of weekly users, ChatGPT’s entry into advertising could reshape how conversational AI is monetized. In addition to this, advertisers gain access to a new, highly contextual channel for “conversational advertising,” where promotions align closely with user intent. Still, it remains to be seen whether OpenAI’s newest gambit manages to alienate users, making them shift to ad-free rivals like Claude or Gemini if ads proliferate.
This development comes on the heels of AI rival Anthropic airing a high-profile Super Bowl ad on February 8 that mocked the idea of advertising inside AI chatbots. The commercial portrayed AI assistants delivering useful answers alongside poorly integrated, disruptive promotions, ending with the tagline: “There is a time and place for ads. Your conversations with AI should not be one of them.” As expected, OpenAI chief Sam Altman had not taken it well and called the ad “clearly dishonest.”
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