Advertisements Are on the Way for ChatGPT: Here’s How They Will Function

OpenAI is preparing to begin testing advertisements within ChatGPT in the upcoming weeks, indicating a notable change for one of the most popular AI tools globally. The company disclosed on Friday that initial ad experiments will commence in the United States, followed by a global rollout.

OpenAI assures that advertisements will not affect ChatGPT’s responses and that all ads will be displayed in distinct, clearly marked boxes right below the chatbot’s reply. For example, if a user requests assistance in planning a trip to New York City, they will receive a typical response from the chatbot, possibly accompanied by an ad for a nearby hotel.

“People rely on ChatGPT for many vital and personal tasks, so as we introduce advertisements, it’s essential to maintain what makes ChatGPT valuable in the first place,” stated OpenAI’s CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, in a blog post about the ad trial. “This means users must trust that ChatGPT’s responses are determined by what is objectively useful, never influenced by advertisements.”

The initial ads will be visible to logged-in users on ChatGPT’s free tier, as well as the $8-per-month Go tier, which is set to begin rolling out to users in the United States on Friday. The Go tier—already available in India, France, and other nations—allows users to send a greater number of messages and generate additional images compared to the free version. OpenAI clarifies that users on its Plus, Pro, and Enterprise plans will not encounter ads.

Photograph: Courtesy of OpenAI

OpenAI also shared the principles guiding its advertising strategy.

The company emphasizes that it will not sell user data or share conversations with ChatGPT with advertisers. This means advertisers won’t have access to a user’s age, location, or interests, which is commonplace when users are targeted with ads across much of the internet.

Instead, an OpenAI spokesperson informed WIRED that the company will allow advertisers to view aggregated ad performance metrics, such as the number of times an ad was displayed in ChatGPT or how many users clicked on it.

To select which ads are shown, OpenAI will match conversation topics with relevant advertisements. Some of the personalization data from users may be utilized in this process, the spokesperson noted, but the company assures users can disable the data used for advertising without affecting ChatGPT’s other personalization options.

The spokesperson did not provide specifics on the type of data OpenAI will collect from users for targeted ads, but ChatGPT already gathers various data to enhance the chatbot’s responses. Users can prompt the chatbot to remember personal preferences—such as hobbies, dietary restrictions, and other interests—to customize responses. OpenAI has expanded the product’s memory capabilities over the past year, enabling ChatGPT to reference previous conversations in its replies. According to the blog post, “users can clear the data used for ads at any time.”