Key insights
-
1
OpenAI says ads will be separated from answers and not affect responses: Fidji Simo wrote that ads will not influence ChatGPT’s conversational responses, and OpenAI said ads will be labeled and placed at the bottom of answers, separated from the answer.
-
2
OpenAI links ads to revenue diversification under financial pressure: OpenAI said the ad test is meant to diversify revenue, and financial documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal said OpenAI expects to burn roughly $9 billion this year while generating $13 billion in revenue and does not expect profitability until 2030.
-
3
Altman previously expressed discomfort with ads influencing AI outputs: Sam Altman said in 2024 that advertising in ChatGPT was a “last resort” and said he found ads combined with AI “uniquely unsettling,” citing concern about responses changing due to advertising pressure.
Takeaways
OpenAI is moving ahead with a US test of labeled banner ads in ChatGPT’s free and Go tiers while stating that ads will not influence responses and that certain privacy and sensitive-topic limits will apply.