In a blog post published this week, the company confirmed that it is testing ads for logged-in users on its Free and Go plans in the US, while paid tiers like Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education are kept ad-free. OpenAI said the move will help every user get broader access to advanced AI tools without having to pay a subscription.
ChatGPT GPT-4o users are angry at OpenAI on Reddit right now
“Our focus in this test is on learning,” OpenAI’s blog post reads. “We’re paying close attention to feedback to ensure ads feel useful and fit naturally into the ChatGPTT experience before expanding.”
Advertisements appear outside of ChatGPTT’s responses and are clearly labeled as sponsored content. OpenAI says that ads do not influence how the chatbot answers questions and that user conversations are not shared with advertisers. Instead, ads are selected based on broader conversation topics and how users interact with the ads, with restrictions in place to prevent sponsored content from appearing alongside sensitive topics such as health, mental health or politics.
People who use ChatGPT’s free service can opt out of ads with a warning.
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According to the company, “If you prefer not to see ads, you can upgrade to our Plus or Pro plan, or opt out of ads in the free tier in exchange for fewer daily free messages.”
Opt-out options on ChatGPT found in user settings
Credit: Mashable screengrab via OpenAI
Users who consent to advertisements will also have the option to opt out of ad personalization, thereby limiting the selection of sponsored content. There are also options to prevent ChatGPT from using past AI chats to customize ads, as well as delete “all ad history and data” compiled by the company on the user.
At the time of publication, Mashable attempted to display ads during regular use of ChatGPT, but was unable to trigger any sponsored content, which aligns with OpenAI’s description of the rollout as a limited test rather than a full launch.
The rollout follows months of confusion and frustration from users after widely circulated screenshots appeared to show promotional content embedded in ChatGPIT responses. OpenAI had previously dismissed those incidents as poorly timed “suggestions,” but the distinction did little to quell concerns. As Mashable reported earlier this year, OpenAI has been quietly experimenting with ad formats internally, while hinting that monetization will eventually be necessary to support the platform’s huge infrastructure costs.
With ChatGPT now testing ads and offering opt-out controls, OpenAI is betting that transparency and choice will soften the transition to a more familiar, ad-supported Internet model. However, that change did not go unnoticed by competitors. One of OpenAI’s biggest rivals, Anthropic, used its Super Bowl LX ad buy to openly mock the idea of advertising inside AI chatbots.
The ads promote Anthropic’s chatbots, the cloud, by staging scenarios where seemingly useful conversations suddenly turn into awkward sales pitches, ending with the tagline, “Ads are coming to AI. But not to the cloud.”
Disclosure: Mashable’s parent company Ziff Davis filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in the training and operation of its AI systems.
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