ChatGPT will get ads. Free and Go users first

OpenAI is preparing to introduce advertising to ChatGPT, with the company's free and Go subscription tiers slated to be the first to see sponsored messages. The move, announced by Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of applications, marks a significant shift for the AI giant as it grapples with staggering operational costs and a vast user base that largely relies on free services.

"In the coming weeks, we're also planning to start testing ads in the US for the free and Go tiers, so more people can benefit from our tools with fewer usage limits or without having to pay," Simo stated. The company confirmed that its higher-tier offerings—Plus ($20/month), Pro ($200/month), Business, and Enterprise subscriptions—will remain ad-free.

This decision comes as OpenAI faces immense financial pressure. The company reportedly lost over $11.5 billion in the third quarter of 2025 alone, according to financial disclosures from its major investor, Microsoft. OpenAI has also committed to spending more than $1 trillion in its pursuit of artificial general intelligence (AGI). With the vast majority of its users not paying for the service, advertising appears to be a necessary financial strategy. As of July 2025, only about 5% of ChatGPT's weekly active users—approximately 35 million out of a reported 700 million—paid for Plus or Pro subscriptions. The company projects that by 2030, it aims to convert about 8.5% of a projected 2.6 billion weekly users into paying subscribers, leaving over 2.3 billion users on free or low-cost tiers.

OpenAI's mockup of how ads might appear in ChatGPT. The company has stated ads will be clearly labeled and distinct from AI-generated responses.

The Privacy and Ethical Quandary

The introduction of advertising into a conversational AI platform presents unique challenges. ChatGPT is used for a wide range of personal activities, from coding and research to companionship and informal therapy. This deep engagement creates a treasure trove of highly personal data, which is the lifeblood of targeted advertising.

OpenAI's Simo attempted to preempt concerns by making several assurances. She stated that ads will not influence the AI's answers, will be "optimized based on what's most helpful to you," and will be clearly labeled. The company also claims that users under 18 and queries about sensitive topics like health or politics will be spared from ads. "We keep your conversations with ChatGPT private from advertisers, and we never sell your data to advertisers," Simo said, adding that users will have controls to manage their data and disable personalization.

However, privacy advocates are skeptical. Miranda Bogen, director of the Center for Democracy and Technology's AI Governance Lab, warns that even without direct data sharing, the business model itself creates dangerous incentives.

"Even if AI platforms don't share data directly with advertisers, business models based on targeted advertising put really dangerous incentives in place when it comes to user privacy," Bogen said in an emailed statement. "This decision raises real questions about how business models will shape AI in the long run."

She argues that AI companies must be careful not to repeat the mistakes of social media and the broader web, where personalized ads have led to widespread privacy harms. "When tools try to exploit trust to sell goods, that may be problematic," Bogen noted, highlighting the unique relationship users form with AI chatbots as companions and advisors.

Regulatory and Legal Landscape

The move places OpenAI squarely in the crosshairs of data protection regulations like the GDPR in Europe and the CCPA in California. Under the CCPA, "selling" data is broadly defined to include any communication of personal information for monetary or other valuable consideration. While OpenAI claims it won't sell data, the act of using conversation data to target ads could be interpreted as a form of sale or sharing, depending on the legal framework.

Google and Meta have long insisted they don't "sell" personal data, but they use it extensively to target their own ad networks. Their history of privacy missteps underscores the difficulty of maintaining user trust while monetizing personal data. For OpenAI, the challenge is even more acute, as the data involved is often more intimate than the browsing history or social interactions used by traditional platforms.

Industry Precedents and Challenges

OpenAI is not the first AI company to experiment with advertising. Meta has integrated AI into its advertising business, using AI-generated images in ads. However, the results for pure-play AI chatbots have been mixed. Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine, paused accepting new ad clients in October 2025 after its head of advertising departed, suggesting that monetizing conversational AI through ads is not a straightforward path.

The technical implementation will also be a key factor. While ad-blocking browser extensions may initially be able to block ads in the web version of ChatGPT, this will be less feasible in OpenAI's native desktop applications. The effectiveness of these blockers will become clearer once OpenAI begins serving ads.

What Changes for Users

For users of ChatGPT's free and Go tiers in the US, the experience will soon include sponsored messages. The company's promise is that these ads will be relevant and non-intrusive, but the underlying business model shift is profound. Users must now consider that their interactions with the AI are not only helping to train the model but are also being used to generate revenue through advertising.

The decision also signals a broader trend in the AI industry. As the costs of building and running large language models continue to skyrocket, companies are under pressure to find sustainable revenue streams. Advertising, with its proven scalability and massive revenue potential (Google and Meta each generate tens of billions from ads quarterly), is a logical, if controversial, choice.

For now, OpenAI is proceeding cautiously, starting with tests in the US. The company's ability to balance revenue generation with user trust and privacy will be critical. As Bogen noted, "AI companies should be extremely careful not to repeat the many mistakes that have been made—and harms that have resulted from—the adoption of personalized ads on social media and around the web."

The success or failure of this experiment will not only determine ChatGPT's financial future but could also set a precedent for how the next generation of AI services is monetized, with significant implications for user privacy and the broader digital ecosystem.

For more information on data privacy regulations, see the GDPR text and the California Consumer Privacy Act.