OpenAI to test ads in ChatGPT to boost revenue

OpenAI plans to show ads in ChatGPT to some U.S. users, ramping up efforts to generate revenue from the AI chatbot to fund the high costs of developing the technology, the company said on Friday.

The ads will be tested with users on the company's free tier and the lower-priced Go plan, which it is now expanding globally. They will appear in the coming weeks and will be separate from the answers generated by ChatGPT.

Users on the more expensive Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise tiers will not see ads. OpenAI also said advertising would not influence ChatGPT's outputs and that user conversations would not be shared with marketers.

The move marks a major departure for the company, which had so far relied on subscriptions. It reflects the pressure OpenAI faces to increase revenue as it spends heavily on data centers and prepares for a widely anticipated initial public offering.

The money-losing startup plans to spend more than $1 trillion on artificial intelligence infrastructure by 2030 but has not provided details on how it plans to fund it.

Analysts said ads could unlock a significant revenue stream from ChatGPT's 800 million weekly active users, but the move could irritate some customers and hurt trust in the product.

"If ads feel clumsy or opportunistic, users can easily switch to rival chatbots such as Google's Gemini or Anthropic's Claude," Emarketer analyst Jeremy Goldman said.

He added that the move could also pressure rivals "to clarify their own monetization philosophies, especially those positioning themselves as 'ad-free by design.'"

OpenAI said it would not show ads to users under 18. The company also plans to block ads from appearing in relation to sensitive topics, such as health and politics.

"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," the startup said in a statement.

Advertisers are optimistic that AI will improve performance in search and social advertising, as they look to capitalize on the implementation of the technology into advertising recommendation systems.

The ChatGPT Go offering, first launched in India, will be available in the U.S. for $8 per month, the Microsoft-backed company said.