OpenAI has announced plans to introduce advertising into ChatGPT, marking a significant shift in how the AI platform is funded. The company said it will begin testing tailored adverts in the coming weeks, initially rolling them out in the United States to users on its free and lowest-cost plans.
For now, Plus, Pro and Enterprise subscribers will remain ad-free, with advertising limited to free users and those on OpenAI’s low-cost Go plan. The Go subscription, which launched first in India, became available in the US and other global markets at the end of last week.
A New Revenue Stream for a Costly Platform
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, who has previously described advertising as a “last resort”, said he remains hopeful that an ad-supported model can work alongside paid subscriptions. The move comes as the company looks for sustainable ways to fund the rapidly rising costs of running large-scale AI systems and data centres.
Ads will appear in a banner-style format at the bottom of ChatGPT responses and will be clearly labelled as promotional content. According to OpenAI, advertising will be contextually relevant — for example, a travel-related advert might follow a query about holidays.
Crucially, OpenAI says adverts will not influence the chatbot’s answers, and they will be excluded from sensitive areas including politics, health and mental health.
Limits on Data Use and Personalisation
The company said it does not currently plan to share conversation data with advertisers. Users will also be given tools to understand why they are seeing a particular ad, dismiss adverts they find irrelevant, and submit feedback to help refine the system over time.
OpenAI said it will use early testing to gather user input and adjust its advertising approach before any wider rollout.
Following a Broader Industry Shift
The move mirrors wider changes across the tech industry as AI services search for viable business models. OpenAI continues to rely heavily on private funding, with reports indicating the company recorded losses of around $8 billion in the first half of 2025.
Other major players are already experimenting with similar strategies. Earlier this month, Google introduced personalised advertising into its AI-powered shopping tools and began allowing users to tailor AI responses by linking data from services such as Gmail and YouTube.
As generative AI becomes more embedded in everyday digital tools, OpenAI’s experiment with advertising may signal a broader shift toward mixed subscription-and-ad-supported models across the sector.
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