ChatGPT to Start Showing Users Ads Based on Their Conversations
ChatGPT may soon show you ads for things it believes you’d want to buy.
On Friday, OpenAI said that it will test adverts in its free edition with logged-in, adult US users. It’s also launching a $8-per-month “Go” membership tier that provides some updated features, such as longer memory and more picture creation options, at a lesser cost than its “Plus” ($20/month) and “Pro” ($200/month) plans. “Go” subscribers will also see advertising, although Plus, Pro, and OpenAI corporate clients will not.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has previously raised qualms about adding advertisements into ChatGPT. However, the move comes as OpenAI is desperately attempting to figure out how to increase revenue from its 800 million monthly users so that it can fund the $1.4 trillion it has promised to invest on AI infrastructure over the next eight years. Altman stated in November that the company expects to generate approximately $20 billion in revenue by the end of 2025.
Last year, the business introduced “Instant Checkout,” which allows users to purchase things from sites such as Walmart and Etsy directly through ChatGPT. OpenAI has also incorporated health and learning functions, among others, in an effort to make ChatGPT a more important part of customers’ daily life and potentially provide them a reason to subscribe to a premium membership.
Advertising could be a lucrative approach for OpenAI, as leveraging information from people’s discussions using ChatGPT could result in highly targeted adverts. For example, if a user asks ChatGPT for help organising a trip, it may provide advertisements for nearby hotels or entertainment options.
As part of the test, adverts will appear at the bottom of ChatGPT’s response to a user’s query and be labelled as “sponsored.” According to OpenAI, adverts will not dictate the answers provided by ChatGPT, and users must believe that ChatGPT’s responses are motivated by what is objectively helpful.
The business also stated that it will not sell user data or conversations to advertisers, and that customers can disable ad personalisation based on their talks. OpenAI does not want to advertise in talks concerning “regulated topics” such as health, mental health, or politics.
“Given what AI can do, we’re excited to develop new experiences over time that people find more helpful and relevant than any other ads,” the company said in a blog post. “Soon you might see an ad and be able to directly ask the questions you need to make a purchase decision.”
Altman stated in a 2024 interview that he “hates” commercials and finds the concept of combining marketing with AI “uniquely unsettling,” but added that “I’m not saying OpenAI would never consider ads.” Last year, he stated that while he wasn’t “totally against” putting adverts to ChatGPT, it would “take a lot of care to get right.”
Given the personal and intimate nature of chatbot discussions, inserting advertisements into them could be contentious. And the move will put further pressure on OpenAI to ensure that it does not propose items that are potentially dangerous or harmful, particularly after the business was sued alleging that ChatGPT urged users to commit suicide.
OpenAI stated that it will not offer adverts to individuals who have identified or are believed to be under the age of 18. (The company employs AI to estimate users’ ages based on their discussions and usage patterns.)
Ads are going to become a larger element of users’ AI experiences on a variety of platforms. Meta began targeting customers with more personalised advertising in December, based on data from their experiences with its AI chatbot.
