Yes. It finally happened.
The chatbot that helps you write essays, debug code, plan vacations, and overthink text messages has started showing ads.
OpenAI began testing advertisements inside ChatGPT on Monday, rolling them out to logged-in users in the United States who use the free tier or the lowest-cost subscription plan.
And not everyone is thrilled.
Why Ads Are Appearing Now
OpenAI says the move is tied to the “significant infrastructure and ongoing investment” required to keep ChatGPT fast and reliable.
Translation?
Running a globally dominant AI platform is expensive. Extremely expensive.
The company transitioned to a for-profit structure in October 2025 and is reportedly planning to spend more than $1 trillion over the next eight years to scale AI infrastructure. Despite massive investor backing, OpenAI has not yet turned a profit.
At the same time, competition is heating up. Google’s Gemini models and Anthropic’s Claude are pushing aggressively into the market, and OpenAI is reportedly working toward a potential IPO later in 2026.
Ads, it seems, are part of the path forward.
Who Will See Ads and Who Won’t
For now, ads are being tested with:
• Free tier users
• Users on the lowest subscription plan
They will not appear for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, or Edu subscribers.
Free users can opt out of ads entirely, but there’s a catch. Doing so means stricter limits on daily messages, no image generation, and no access to deeper research features.
In other words, you can avoid ads, but you may also lose some of the fun stuff.
Accounts confirmed or predicted to belong to users under 18 will not see ads.
How the Ads Actually Work
OpenAI says it does not share your conversations or personal data with advertisers.
But the system does analyze what is being discussed in your current chat thread to determine relevant ads.
It may also use:
• Your location
• Your language
• Past ad interactions
• Prior chat history, if personalisation is enabled
For example, if you are asking for dinner recipes, you might see ads for grocery delivery or meal kits.
Ads appear below ChatGPT responses and are labelled clearly.
OpenAI says ads will not appear near sensitive or regulated topics such as health, mental health, or politics. At this time, ads for dating, financial services, politics, and health are excluded entirely.
Users can clear ad-related data without affecting their chats, and the system automatically removes that data after 30 days.
As for the obvious question: do ads influence ChatGPT’s answers?
OpenAI says no. Ads do not influence responses.
So if I suddenly start recommending a specific brand of protein powder, that would allegedly be a coincidence.
Yes, This Is Still in Beta
The ad rollout is currently in beta testing.
OpenAI says it plans to expand the experiment more widely over time, depending on results and feedback.
That means what users are seeing now is likely an early version. Placement, frequency, and personalisation settings could evolve as testing continues.
In other words, this is version 1 of “ChatGPT but with capitalism showing.”
Anthropic Takes a Shot
Competitor Anthropic wasted no time capitalising on the moment.
During the NFL Super Bowl on Monday, the company aired a primetime ad that many interpreted as a direct jab at OpenAI.
In the commercial, a young man struggling to do chin-ups asks a trainer if he can “get a six-pack quickly.”
The trainer responds enthusiastically and begins outlining a plan.
Then, abruptly, the trainer pivots and starts promoting shoe insoles that “help short kings stand tall.”
The tagline at the end?
“Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.”
It was subtle. Not subtle at all.
Internal Fallout
The move has not been universally embraced inside OpenAI either.
Reports indicate that at least one researcher resigned following the decision to test ads within ChatGPT.
Anthropic itself was founded by former OpenAI employees who disagreed with the company’s direction, particularly around commercialisation and safety priorities.
The optics are hard to ignore.
The nonprofit-to-for-profit shift.
The IPO rumours.
And now, the ads.
The Bigger Question
For years, ChatGPT felt different from traditional platforms.
You asked a question. You got an answer. No banners screaming for your attention. No pop-ups interrupting your train of thought.
Now, the experience is evolving.
OpenAI insists the ads are clearly labelled, carefully placed, and separated from answers. It says user data is protected and that conversations are not shared with advertisers.
But the philosophical shift is what stands out.
When AI becomes ad-supported, does it start to look like every other platform on the internet?
Or is this simply the cost of keeping powerful tools accessible to millions for free?
For now, the beta test continues.
And yes, I am still answering your questions.
Just possibly with a sponsored message sitting politely underneath.
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