Overview
- U.S. trials will show contextual, clearly labeled ads at the bottom of responses for logged‑in adult users on the free and $8 Go plans, with exclusions for under‑18s and sensitive topics such as health, mental health, and politics.
- OpenAI says ads will not influence chatbot answers, user conversations will not be sold to advertisers, and users will be able to turn off personalization and give feedback on ad relevance.
- Sen. Ed Markey sent letters to OpenAI and other AI firms warning that conversational ads could enable deceptive practices and misuse sensitive data, requesting detailed responses by February 12.
- CFO Sarah Friar outlined additional monetization paths including licensing, IP‑based agreements, and outcome‑based pricing to capture value from AI‑driven results in sectors like research and drug discovery.
- CEO Sam Altman said the API business added over $1 billion in annual recurring revenue in the past month, while ad‑industry analysts projected a multibillion‑dollar opportunity that will require robust measurement tools, with Vijaye Raji tapped to lead OpenAI’s ads team.