OpenAI said Friday it will begin testing advertisements on the free version of ChatGPT within weeks, as the San Francisco-based company seeks new revenue to cover more than $1 trillion in financial obligations for computer chips and data centers powering its artificial intelligence services. The company said ads have not yet appeared on the chatbot but testing would begin in the coming weeks.
The plan marks a significant shift for a company originally founded as a nonprofit, and comes as OpenAI — valued at $500 billion but losing more money than it makes — searches for ways to profit from a user base exceeding 800 million, most of whom pay nothing for the service.
According to OpenAI, the digital ads will appear at the bottom of ChatGPT’s answers “when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current conversation.” The company said the ads “will be clearly labeled and separated from the organic answer.”
“Most importantly: ads will not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you,” said Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of applications, in a social media post Friday.
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said in a post on social platform X that he sees a market among users who want AI without paying for it. “It is clear to us that a lot of people want to use a lot of AI and don’t want to pay, so we are hopeful a business model like this can work,” Altman said.
Privacy promises draw scrutiny
OpenAI claimed it will not use users’ personal information or conversation prompts to collect data for advertisements. Paddy Harrington, an analyst at research firm Forrester, said the key question is “for how long.”
“Free services are never actually free and these public AI platforms need to generate revenue,” Harrington said. “Which leads to the adage: If the service is free, you’re the product.”
Miranda Bogen, director of the AI Governance Lab at the Center for Democracy and Technology, said introducing personalized ads starts OpenAI “down a risky path” previously taken by social media companies.
“People are using chatbots for all sorts of reasons, including as companions and advisors,” Bogen said. “There’s a lot at stake when that tool tries to exploit users’ trust to hawk advertisers’ goods.”
Rivals already running ads in AI
OpenAI’s rivals Google and Meta have dominated digital advertising for years and already incorporate ads into some of their AI features. OpenAI was originally founded as a nonprofit with a mission to safely develop artificial intelligence, then last year reorganized and converted its business into a public benefit corporation.
The company said Friday that its pursuit of advertising will be “always in support” of its original mission to ensure its AI technology benefits humanity. OpenAI generates some revenue from paid subscriptions but needs additional income to cover the financial obligations it has taken on for the computing infrastructure underlying its services. The risk that OpenAI will not generate sufficient revenue has amplified investor concerns about a potential AI bubble.