OpenAI said it will soon start showing advertisements to ChatGPT users who do not pay for a premium version of the chatbot, the company said Friday. OpenAI said it has not yet rolled out the ads, but plans to begin testing them in the coming weeks.
The company said the digital ads would appear at the bottom of ChatGPT’s answers when there is a relevant sponsored product or service based on the user’s current conversation. OpenAI said the ads will be clearly labeled and separated from the organic answer.
Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of applications, said in a social media post that “Most importantly: ads will not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you.”
OpenAI has presented the move as part of its broader effort to generate revenue from ChatGPT’s large user base. OpenAI said ChatGPT has more than 800 million users, most of whom get it for free, and the company has been looking for ways to turn a profit.
The report said OpenAI is valued at $500 billion and has been losing more money than it makes. It also said OpenAI makes some money from paid subscriptions but needs more revenue to pay for more than $1 trillion in financial obligations for computer chips and data centers that power its AI services.
OpenAI said it will pursue advertising “always in support” of its original mission to ensure its AI technology benefits humanity. The report said OpenAI was originally founded as a nonprofit, and that it reorganized its ownership structure and converted its business into a public benefit corporation last year.
The report cited competition from other major technology companies. It said Google and Meta have dominated digital advertising for years and already incorporate ads into some of their AI features.
Critics said the introduction of ads to chatbots could create risks for users. Miranda Bogen of the Center for Democracy and Technology said introducing personalized ads puts chatbot use “down a risky path” previously taken by social media companies, and she said there is “a lot at stake when that tool tries to exploit users’ trust to hawk advertisers’ goods.”
Bogen also argued that chatbots are used for many different purposes, including “companions and advisors,” and that the stakes include how ads could take advantage of that trust.
In comments tied to the business case, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, “It is clear to us that a lot of people want to use a lot of AI and don’t want to pay,” adding that the company is “hopeful a business model like this can work.” The report also said Altman added that he likes the ads on Meta’s Instagram because they show him things he wouldn’t have found otherwise.
OpenAI said it will not use a user’s personal information or prompts to collect data for ads, but the report quoted Forrester analyst Paddy Harrington raising concerns about how long that approach will hold. Harrington said, “Free services are never actually free and these public AI platforms need to generate revenue,” and added, “Which leads to the adage: If the service is free, you’re the product.”