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OpenAI has announced the launch of advertising in ChatGPT. In the coming weeks, the company will start testing ad units in the free plan and the $8/month Go plan in the US. According to the official statement, the ads will not affect ChatGPT responses. At the same time, ads will be generated based on the context of users’ conversations. Personalization will be enabled by default, but users will be able to refuse it in the settings.
OpenAI notes that advertising materials will be clearly separated from chats and will be labeled “Sponsored.” The company also emphasizes that conversations will remain private, and user data will not be sold to advertisers.
The launch of advertising was a logical step in the monetization strategy. According to The Information, in September, OpenAI told investors that it could spend up to $115 billion in cash by 2030. Moreover, the company plans to invest at least $1.4 trillion in data centers and technical infrastructure to scale AI services.
In preparation for commercialization, OpenAI has also strengthened its management team. Last year, the company was joined by former Instacart CEO Fiji Simo, who headed the applications and monetization division. In December, OpenAI appointed former Slack executive Denise Dresser as CFO.
Unlike its competitors in the consumer segment, such as Google, Meta, Amazon, and xAI, OpenAI does not have its own large advertising platforms. At the same time, Google is already experimenting with AI-oriented advertising in AI Overviews and AI Mode, despite the statements that it has no plans to launch ads in the Gemini app.
The company explains the launch of ads by the desire to make ChatGPT more accessible to a wider audience. In its blog post, OpenAI stated that monetization through advertising should support the mission of AGI development for the benefit of humanity and maintain free access to the basic features of the service.
For users who do not want to see ads, OpenAI confirmed that it will always keep the paid subscription option without ads. At the first stage, ads will appear below ChatGPT answers. In the future, the company plans to allow users to ask questions about advertising offers to help them choose products and services.
Thus, ChatGPT is moving to a new monetization model where free access is gradually combined with the advertising ecosystem.
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