OpenAI Introduces Advertising to ChatGPT in a Significant Monetization Move
OpenAI has recently announced that it will commence testing advertisements within its ChatGPT platform. This development, set to take place in the coming weeks, signifies a critical shift in the company’s business strategy as it aims to monetize its substantial user base of 800 million weekly active users.
The ads will initially be visible to adult users in the United States who are using the free tier and the newly expanded $8-per-month “ChatGPT Go” subscription. Premium Plus ($20/month), Pro ($200/month), and Enterprise subscribers will continue to enjoy an ad-free experience. The advertisements will be placed at the bottom of ChatGPT’s responses and will be distinctly marked as “sponsored”.
“As we introduce ads, it’s crucial we preserve what makes ChatGPT valuable in the first place,” said Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of applications and former Meta advertising executive. The company pledged that ads will never influence ChatGPT’s answers and that user conversations will remain private from advertisers.
This move comes at a time when OpenAI is facing increasing financial pressure, with the company expending significant resources to fund its ambitious AI infrastructure plans. Internal documents project that advertising and free user monetization could generate $1 billion in 2026, scaling to nearly $25 billion by 2029. This decision aligns OpenAI’s business model more closely with tech giants Google and Meta, which have built massive advertising empires on their free-to-use platforms.
Source: CNBC