OpenAI may soon be headed down the path to an ad-supported business model, as the artificial intelligence (AI) company says users who use ChatGPT for free or subscribe to the affordable Go plan will start seeing ads in their conversations in the coming months. The rollout will start with users in the US and will eventually go global. In corporate terms, this is a blatant counterattack like you have never seen before.
Here is some context. In May 2024, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that advertising on ChatGPAT would be a last resort. His exact words at the time, “Advertising plus AI are uniquely troubling to me. I think of ads as a last resort for a business model.” Fast forward to January 2026, “It’s clear to us that a lot of people want to use a lot of AI and don’t want to pay, so we’re hopeful that a business model like this can work.” Somewhere in the middle, in an official OpenAI podcast, Altman openly wondered how humans managed to raise children in the years before AI.
OpenAI makes it clear that ads will not appear in conversations when a user is talking to ChatGPIT about sensitive topics like health, mental health or politics. The company also won’t serve ads to teens under the age of 18 (and will also use predictive methods if the user hasn’t explicitly shared their age). OpenAI also emphasizes that ads do not influence replies during conversations. If users want an ad-free ChatGPAT experience, they will need to pay for a Plus, Pro, Business, or Enterprise subscription.
The move puts ChatGPIT on its way to becoming one of the largest online advertising platforms alongside Google Search and Meta’s social media apps. OpenAI reported more than 800 million weekly active users by the end of 2025.
Balancing ads with everything else
Still, with OpenAI now talking about its approach to advertising, it’s important to weigh it against the broader-scoped privacy policy (the version we’re referring to is the latest one, published June 27, 2025), there are some contradictions in the claims that will be quite obvious to anyone reading carefully.
The privacy policy states, “We do not “sell” personal data or “share” personal data for cross-contextual behavioral advertising, and we do not process personal data for “targeted advertising” purposes (as those terms are defined under state privacy laws).” If followed completely it will make the ad untenable.
The advertising principles emphasize that while the advertisements users see within ChatGPT will be within the conversation interface (and are expected to be related to that conversation), these “ads do not influence the answers that ChatGPT gives you. Answers are customized based on what is most useful to you. Advertisements are always distinct and clearly labeled.”
It is difficult to imagine how OpenAI would be able to serve ads without access to the content and context of a conversation, and OpenAI’s claims have not yet been independently verified. Any ad-supported business model will essentially use data to drive optimized and relevant advertisements, with the highest click throughs and interactions, as the business model demands.
OpenAI’s new advertising principles explicitly suggest that OpenAI will “keep your interactions with ChatGPT private from advertisers, and we will never sell your data to advertisers.” However, the wording of the privacy policy reads, “When you use our services, we collect personal information that includes inputs, file uploads or feedback you provide to our services.”
The privacy policy repeatedly makes it clear that OpenAI will use user personal information to “improve our services” – and one of these mentioned services now includes an online advertising platform.
The new advertising principles also make clear that users have control over how their data is used. “You can turn off personalization, and clear the data used for ads, at any time,” Siddhant says. This means that data for ad delivery purposes is enabled by default for all users using ChatGPT for free or at the Go subscription level. The argument that this data is not being shared directly with advertisers may be true – just that OpenAI can create relevant user profiles to show ads.
This takes us back to the privacy policy, which this time says, “We do not “sell” personal data or “share” personal data for cross-contextual behavioral advertising, and we do not process personal data for “targeted advertising” purposes.” As of now, OpenAI’s policy allows collecting data from signals, files uploaded to chatbots, shared images or audio, location data, device information and time zone, as well as a sketch of usage patterns. What they say is to improve the service, conduct research as well as train the models that power ChatGPT.
Chances are, this data will now be the basis of an advertising-supported service.
OpenAI had been hinting at ads for some time, and the AI company even experimented with app promotions in late 2025, which they withdrew after users expressed disappointment over the changes. OpenAI says advertising is now important, “so more people can benefit from our tools with lower usage thresholds.” Which raises a question – if ads were the last resort in ChatGPT, what does that really mean for the long-term business health of OpenAI?
