The Ads Are Here: ChatGPT Starts Serving Up Sponsored Suggestions

Your next conversation with ChatGPT might come with a side of shopping suggestions. OpenAI has begun testing advertisements within ChatGPT for the first time, marking a significant milestone in how the popular AI chatbot could be funded.

According to an official company announcement, the test is rolling out to logged-in adult users in the US who use the Free version or the lower-cost Go plan. Higher-tier subscriptions, including Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education, will remain ad-free for now.

The ads will appear separately from the chatbot’s responses and will be “clearly labeled as sponsored and visually separated from the organic answer.” OpenAI emphasized that the goal is to learn from real-world use before deciding whether to expand the program.

OpenAI is positioning the move carefully, stressing that advertising will not affect how the AI responds. “Ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you. Answers are optimized based on what’s most helpful to you,” the company wrote.

The company also stated that conversations remain private and are not shared with advertisers. Instead, advertisers receive only aggregated performance data, such as views or clicks.

The Super Bowl ad war

The timing of this launch is no accident. It comes just days after a public spat between OpenAI and its main rival, Anthropic. During the Super Bowl, Anthropic aired a commercial for its chatbot, Claude, with the tagline: “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman didn’t take the jab lightly. In a response shared on X, Altman defended the decision to include ads as a way to keep AI accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford monthly fees.

“Anthropic serves an expensive product to rich people,” Altman wrote. “We are glad they do that and we are doing that too, but we also feel strongly that we need to bring AI to billions of people who can’t pay for subscriptions.”

Growth and what’s coming next

Despite the controversy, ChatGPT is apparently on a winning streak. Internal messages viewed by CNBC reveal that Sam Altman told employees the chatbot is “back to exceeding 10% monthly growth.” With over 800 million weekly users, the platform’s sheer scale makes advertising a logical, if controversial, next step.

The company is also reportedly closing in on a massive $100 billion funding round. To keep investors happy and stay ahead of competitors like Google and Anthropic, OpenAI isn’t just focusing on ads. Altman also teased that a new chat model is expected to launch as early as this week.

User controls and privacy

If you’re not a fan of the new look, OpenAI offers other alternatives. You can dismiss specific ads or provide feedback on why they aren’t helpful. You can also turn off “ad personalization” in your settings, though this means you’ll see more generic ads rather than ones related to your interests.

For those who want to avoid ads entirely, the “Plus” plan remains available for $20 a month, or you can opt out of ads on the Free tier in exchange for fewer daily messages.

Also read: These ChatGPT writing prompts can help you get stronger outputs even as sponsored suggestions enter the chat.