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OpenAI Begins U.S. Test of Ads in ChatGPT for Free and Go Users

The limited experiment aims to help fund costly AI infrastructure while keeping answers independent and giving people meaningful privacy and ad controls.

Overview

  • Sponsored placements now appear below ChatGPT responses for a subset of logged‑in adult users on the Free and Go tiers in the United States.
  • OpenAI says ads are clearly labeled, visually separated, and do not influence the chatbot’s answers or appear near sensitive topics like health, mental health, or politics.
  • Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education plans remain ad‑free, and free users can opt out of ads in exchange for fewer daily messages.
  • Targeting relies on conversation context, prior ad interactions, and optional memory settings; advertisers receive only aggregate metrics and do not see users’ chats or personal details.
  • The rollout follows Anthropic’s Super Bowl campaign promoting an ad‑free Claude, drawing a public rebuttal from Sam Altman, and OpenAI characterizes its approach as a test that will evolve based on feedback.