Coming soon: We interrupt this ChatGPT session with a very special message from our sponsors

Steven

Coming soon: We interrupt this ChatGPT session with a very special message from our sponsors

Summary

OpenAI will begin testing advertising in ChatGPT’s free tier and its budget ChatGPT Go tier in the US in the coming weeks. ChatGPT Go has just launched in the US at $8/month; Pro, Business and Enterprise tiers will remain ad-free. OpenAI says ads will be clearly labelled, won’t change answers, and won’t involve selling conversations to advertisers; users will be able to control personalisation and users under 18 or queries about sensitive topics will be excluded from ads. The move is widely seen as a revenue play to offset massive spending and losses tied to AI development. Privacy advocates warn targeted advertising incentives could still harm users even without direct data sales. Ad blockers may block browser-served ads but probably won’t work in native apps.

Key Points

  • OpenAI will test ads in the US for the free and ChatGPT Go ($8/month) tiers; paid Pro/Business/Enterprise tiers will remain ad-free.
  • OpenAI promises ads will be labelled, not affect model outputs, and that conversation data won’t be sold to advertisers.
  • The company faces very large costs and losses (reported multi‑billion quarterly losses and huge long‑term commitments), making additional revenue streams necessary.
  • Privacy experts warn ad-driven business models create incentives that can harm user privacy even without explicit data selling.
  • Users under 18 and queries on sensitive topics (health, politics) are said to be excluded from ads.
  • Ad‑blocking tools may work in browsers but are less likely to block ads in native OpenAI apps.

Why should I read this?

Short version: if you use ChatGPT (or care about how companies monetise AI), this directly affects your experience and privacy. Ads could pop up unless you pay to avoid them, and the change signals how big AI players are trying to pay for trillion‑dollar ambitions. We’ve skimmed the arty bits and pulled out the bits that matter to you.

Source

Source: https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2026/01/17/openai_chatgpt_ads/