ChatGPT is getting ads soon, starting with free users

OpenAI needs money, and ads were always the obvious next step

by · TechSpot

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What just happened? The day many ChatGPT users have feared for weeks has finally arrived. The chatbot that has become nearly synonymous with generative AI will soon begin testing advertising. Ads will appear for some free users as well as subscribers on the service's newest and least expensive tier, which became available worldwide this week.

ChatGPT users in the US will start seeing ads in the coming weeks unless they subscribe to the Plus or Pro tiers. The chatbot will not show ads to users who indicate they are under 18 or if it detects that a user is a minor.

Ads will generally appear below the AI's responses. While the ads will be contextually relevant to the conversation, OpenAI emphasized that they will not influence the chatbot's answers and that advertisers will not have access to user conversations.

For example, one screenshot shows a user asking for dinner party ideas, with an ad for hot sauce – clearly marked as sponsored – appearing below ChatGPT's recipe suggestions. In another screenshot, an answer about Santa Fe is followed by an ad from a business offering to help plan a trip there. Tapping a button below the ad opens a second chatbot window where users can request more information.

ChatGPT will not display ads during conversations about health or politics. Users can also turn off ad personalization and delete the data used to tailor ads.

Indications that OpenAI planned to introduce ads first appeared in October, when The Information reported that the company had hired hundreds of former Meta employees. A developer later discovered code referencing ads in a beta version of ChatGPT's Android app.

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In related news, US users can now subscribe to ChatGPT's new Go tier, which OpenAI began testing last year in India and other countries. Priced at $8 per month, the plan offers 10 times more interactions than the free tier, access to the latest GPT-5.2 model, and an expanded memory.

It is unsurprising that OpenAI is seeking ad revenue and encouraging more subscriptions. The company has not yet reached profitability, and roughly 95 percent of its nearly one billion weekly users still rely on the free tier.

ChatGPT also quietly expanded into machine translation this week. The new tool currently mirrors Google Translate's web interface, supports 47 languages, and allows switching between four different tones. Although options for image and audio translation are visible, these features are not yet functional.