OpenAI on Friday said it would start showing ads in ChatGPT to logged-in adult U.S. users in both the free and ChatGPT Go tiers in the coming weeks, as the artificial intelligence (AI) company expanded access to its low-cost subscription globally.
“You need to know that your data and conversations are protected and never sold to advertisers,” OpenAI said. “And we need to keep a high bar and give you control over your experience, so you see truly relevant, high-quality ads—and can turn off personalization if you want.”
The company has positioned advertising as a way to ensure that the benefits of artificial general intelligence – a term used to describe a stage in machine learning when an AI system can reach or surpass human-level intelligence – can be made more accessible to the masses. In addition, it can be “transformative” for small businesses and emerging brands trying to compete, it added.
It also emphasized that ads do not influence responses from the chatbot, user data and conversations are kept private from advertisers, and that users are in control of the ad experience. The ads will be clearly labeled and will show up at the bottom of a user’s conversation.
OpenAI did not detail exactly what data it will collect on users to serve relevant ads. Users will be able to learn more about why they are seeing specific ads, or dismiss them and submit feedback. Users on the more expensive Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise tiers will not see ads.
“To start, we plan to test ads at the bottom of answers in ChatGPT when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current conversation,” it said. “During our test, we will not show ads in accounts where the user tells us or we predict that they are under 18, and ads are not eligible to appear near sensitive or regulated topics like health, mental health, or politics.”
In a post on X, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman noted that the company will not “accept money” to influence the responses ChatGPT serves to the users. “It is clear to us that a lot of people want to use a lot of AI and don’t want to pay, so we are hopeful a business model like this can work,” Altman added.
The development marks a major departure for the company that had so far primarily relied on subscriptions. At an event at Harvard University in May 2024, Altman described ads “as like a last resort for us for a business model,” characterizing “ads plus AI is sort of uniquely unsettling.”
Altman’s softened stance is indicative of how OpenAI views advertising as a way to unlock a new revenue stream in order to sustain the costly endeavor. ChatGPT had 800 million weekly active users as of early October 2025.
It’s not just OpenAI. Google has also been running tests to show ads inside AI Mode search results, Search Engine Land reported late last year. Earlier this week, Google announced personalized advertising for retailers to target shoppers purchasing items through AI Mode.
