OpenAI announced on Friday that it will test in-app advertisements within ChatGPT for a subset of US users, a move aimed at broadening its customer base and diversifying revenue. The company described the effort as a step toward a more diverse revenue model that can help make AI more accessible to a wider audience.
The ads are slated to appear at the bottom of ChatGPT responses and will target users of the free version as well as the newly launched ChatGPT Go plan, which costs $8 per month. OpenAI says subscribers to higher-end tiers such as Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise will not see advertisements.
Advertisements will be clearly labeled and separated from the actual answers. The company said the ads will be shown when there is a relevant sponsored product or service, with visuals that resemble a blocked-off section of the chat window containing a small image and copy.
In one hypothetical example, asking ChatGPT for places to visit in Mexico could trigger holiday ads. OpenAI described this approach as a way to test the feasibility of ads without compromising the quality of the AI’s responses.
“Our enterprise and subscription businesses are already strong. We believe in having a diverse revenue model where ads can play a part in making intelligence more accessible to everyone,” Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of applications, wrote in a blog post accompanying the announcement.
The move follows OpenAI’s broader push into revenue diversification, which earlier included shopping features in ChatGPT Search. Ads in ChatGPT join a wider trend as AI companies explore advertising revenue, with rivals like Google also testing ads in chatbot experiences.
OpenAI has repeatedly stressed that ads will not influence ChatGPT’s responses, and conversations are not shared with advertisers. The company said it aims to preserve user trust by ensuring the core output remains independent of advertising pressure.
