OpenAI has confirmed it will begin experimenting with advertising inside ChatGPT, marking the first time the company will introduce sponsored messages into its flagship AI assistant. The small-scale trial will begin within the next several weeks and will apply only to adult users in the United States who access the platform through the free tier or the recently expanded $8-per-month ChatGPT Go subscription. Customers using the Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans will remain exempt from advertising.
What the Ad Experience Will Look Like
The company says the initial format will be simple and clearly separated from AI responses. Ads will appear at the bottom of an answer when ChatGPT identifies a match between the ongoing conversation and a relevant sponsored offering. Each placement will carry a “Sponsored” label and remain visually distinct from the assistant’s main reply.
OpenAI stressed that advertisements will not dictate the content or tone of ChatGPT’s answers. According to the announcement, recommendations and responses will continue to prioritize usefulness and accuracy for users. The company also noted it will not sell chat data to advertisers and that accounts linked to users under 18 will not receive ads.
Additional controls will be introduced, including the ability for users to disable personalized ad targeting. Privacy-sensitive topics, such as health, mental health, or political discussions, will be excluded from the program entirely.
Expansion of the ChatGPT Go Tier
Alongside the advertising pilot, OpenAI is expanding its ChatGPT Go plan globally. First offered in India in 2025, the tier now spans 171 countries, including its first rollout in the United States. Go provides more message capacity, image generation, file uploads, and memory functionality at a lower price point than the Plus tier. The company hinted at more interactive ad formats in the future, suggesting users may eventually be able to query products directly within ChatGPT before making purchasing decisions.
Revenue Pressure and Industry Context
OpenAI’s move comes amid major financial commitments toward AI infrastructure. Reports indicate the company expects to spend more than $1 trillion on computing capacity by 2030, with figures in some documents suggesting expenditures could reach as high as $1.4 trillion. Investors have been told the company may burn through more than $100 billion in cash over that period. With ChatGPT now attracting an estimated 800 million weekly active users, advertising offers a substantial new income stream to balance subscription and enterprise sales.
Leadership additions also signal a shift toward monetization. Former Instacart CEO Fidji Simo joined OpenAI in late 2025 as CEO of Applications, while former Slack CEO Denise Dresser became Chief Revenue Officer the same month. Both appointments align with a broader strategy to scale revenue across consumer and business segments.
Mixed Reactions from Analysts
Industry analysts say the company’s experiment carries significant upside – as well as risk. While ads could become a major revenue engine, a poorly integrated experience could push users toward competitors such as Google’s Gemini or Anthropic’s Claude. Google, for instance, has stated it has no current plans to serve ads inside its Gemini app, though it has blended advertising into other AI search features.
Some analysts argue the move forces OpenAI to balance two incentives: serving the best interest of users while satisfying advertisers. Others note that without a broader ecosystem of apps, devices, or marketplaces where ads could naturally reside, OpenAI has fewer paths to drive revenue at scale, making in-chat placements more critical.
What Comes Next
The company describes the test as exploratory and says it will collect feedback before expanding further. If successful, OpenAI could introduce a new category of interactive digital advertising – one where users talk directly with AI about a product in real time. For now, the pilot remains limited and opt-in by circumstance, but it could reshape how AI platforms earn money in a world increasingly reliant on generative tools.
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