For many people, ChatGPT has felt like a rare, peaceful part of the internet, no pop-ups, no banners, no “buy this now” energy. But that calm is about to change.
OpenAI has confirmed that advertisements will soon start appearing inside ChatGPT for some users, marking a significant shift in how the popular AI tool generates revenue. The company says this move will help keep ChatGPT accessible to millions of people who don’t want to pay for expensive subscriptions, while covering the massive costs of running AI systems.
Who will see ads and who won’t OpenAI says ads will appear only for users on the Free version of ChatGPT and those who subscribe to the new ChatGPT Go plan, which costs $8 per month (₹726). This more affordable plan was first introduced in India in 2025 and is now being rolled out to additional countries, starting with the US. Users who pay for higher plans, Plus at $20 a month (₹1,815), Pro at $200 (₹18,142) a month, and Enterprise accounts, will continue to use ChatGPT without seeing any ads. The testing will begin in the US in the coming weeks, and OpenAI says it will expand based on feedback. Where the ads will appear inside ChatGPT According to OpenAI, ads will not interrupt conversations or change the answers you receive. Instead, they will appear at the bottom of ChatGPT’s responses, clearly marked as “Sponsored” and visually separated from the main reply. For example, if someone asks ChatGPT about tourist places in Mexico, they may see travel or hotel ads shown below the answer. The idea is to show ads that match what the user is currently talking about, not based on their past chats or personal profile. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said: We will not accept money to influence the answer ChatGPT gives you, and we keep your conversations private from advertisers. No ads on sensitive topics, and not for children OpenAI says it is adding strict safety rules to protect users. Ads will not be shown if the conversation involves sensitive or regulated topics such as politics, health, or mental health. The company has also said that users under the age of 18 will not see any ads at all. These rules are meant to prevent commercial messages from appearing in serious or vulnerable situations where advertising would feel inappropriate. Also read: NASA gets ready to send humans around the Moon again
Why OpenAI is turning to ads now Running large AI models costs billions of dollars every year, and most people using ChatGPT don’t pay anything. Reports suggest that OpenAI operated at a multi-billion-dollar loss in 2025, while only a small percentage of its hundreds of millions of users are paid subscribers. AI expert Henry Ajder explained that ads are a practical business decision. OpenAI has seen massive user growth but it is not a profit-making company. Advertising is a reliable revenue source for many software businesses. In simple terms, OpenAI needs more ways to make money, and ads are one of the few options that work at internet scale. From ‘I hate ads’ to ‘Instagram does it well’ Interestingly, Sam Altman has earlier said he disliked advertising. In a 2024 podcast, he called ads something he “kind of hates as an aesthetic choice.” But his tone has changed. While announcing the ad tests, Altman compared ChatGPT’s future ads to Instagram, saying: I’ve found stuff on Instagram that I actually like and wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. We will try to make ads more useful to users. So instead of loud, random promotions, OpenAI says it wants ads to feel more like helpful suggestions. Also read: How to create viral handmade posters using Google Gemini
Not just OpenAI, ads in AI are becoming normal OpenAI is not the only AI company exploring advertising. Other AI platforms have already started experimenting with shopping features and sponsored results. While Google has denied reports of placing ads inside its Gemini chatbot next year, ads are already deeply connected to AI-powered search experiences. As AI tools become part of everyday life, many experts believe ads will eventually follow, just like they did with websites, social media, and mobile apps. Earlier, a non-profit organisation OpenAI was originally founded as a non-profit to build safe AI for the benefit of humanity. Over time, it has shifted toward a more commercial structure and is now officially a public benefit corporation. The company says advertising will still support its original mission by allowing more people to use AI with fewer restrictions. Still, some analysts remain cautious and point to a familiar internet reality: When a service is free, users often end up paying with their attention instead of money.
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