OpenAI is introducing advertising on ChatGPT for the first time, marking a significant strategic shift as the company searches for new revenue streams to support its rapid expansion and mounting infrastructure costs. The move, reported by the Financial Times, signals the San Francisco-based start-up’s growing willingness to adopt business models long used by Big Tech rivals as competition in artificial intelligence intensifies.
The company announced on Friday that it would begin testing advertisements on its free version of ChatGPT and its lowest-cost paid tier. The ads are expected to appear at the bottom of chatbot responses in the coming weeks and will be clearly labelled, OpenAI said. Advertising will be shown only when it is relevant to a user’s query, an effort the company says is designed to minimise disruption and preserve user trust.
Led by chief executive Sam Altman, OpenAI is under increasing pressure to diversify its income. The company faces spending commitments estimated at roughly $1.4tn over the next decade to secure the computing power needed to train and run advanced AI models. According to a person close to OpenAI, the company expects advertising to generate “low billions” of dollars in revenue in 2026, with that figure rising in subsequent years.
The Financial Times previously reported that OpenAI was exploring advertising as early as December 2024, but plans were delayed after the company triggered what it described internally as a “code red” to focus on the growing competitive threat from Google and Anthropic. Until now, OpenAI had resisted embedding ads into ChatGPT’s answers, arguing that commercial influence could undermine the perceived neutrality and reliability of its responses.
“People trust ChatGPT for many important and personal tasks, so as we introduce ads, it’s crucial we preserve what makes ChatGPT valuable in the first place,” the company said in a statement. It added that responses would continue to be driven by what is “objectively useful” rather than by advertising considerations.
In recent months, OpenAI has expanded ChatGPT’s ability to retain information from past conversations, allowing the system to deliver more personalised responses. According to a person familiar with the company’s strategy, these “memories” could eventually form the basis for highly targeted advertising, drawing on user preferences and behaviour. OpenAI said users would be able to turn off personalisation and delete stored memories.
The move comes amid a broader shift across the tech sector toward AI-driven advertising. Earlier this week, Google introduced personalised ads into its AI-powered search mode, offering tailored discounts to users shopping through its platform. Advertising has long been the financial backbone of companies such as Google and Meta, and OpenAI’s decision suggests a convergence toward similar monetisation strategies.
Advertising is only one of several avenues OpenAI is pursuing. The company is developing AI hardware devices, building custom products for governments and enterprises, and expanding shopping-related tools within its ecosystem. At the same time, it is in early discussions with investors about a potential funding round that could raise around $80bn, according to people familiar with the talks.
As the Financial Times notes, the introduction of advertising represents a pivotal moment for OpenAI, testing whether it can balance commercial pressures with the trust and credibility that helped make ChatGPT one of the world’s most widely used AI products.
