An ongoing conversation \u2014 both within and outside of the tech community \u2014 has been about just how and when OpenAI, which is currently valued at $500 billion, will make money. Well, there\u2019s one surefire way to do that, and that is through advertising. In the near term, that seems to be the AI giant\u2019s plan, as it announced this week that limited ads are headed to certain ChatGPT users.<\/p>\n
In a blog post published Friday, OpenAI said that it will begin testing ads in the U.S. for both its free and Go tiers. (Go accounts, which cost $8 a month, were introduced globally on Friday.) The company frames this as a way to sustain free access while generating revenue from people who aren\u2019t ready to commit to a paid subscription. For the time being, the company\u2019s more expensive paid tiers \u2014 Pro, Plus, Business, and Enterprise \u2014 will not be getting any ads.<\/p>\n
The ads will appear at the bottom of a user\u2019s conversation and will be targeted to the topic of discussion. Users will have some control over this situation, as they\u2019ll be able to dismiss ads, see explanations for why they\u2019re being shown particular ones, and also turn off personalization, which should defeat the ads\u2019 targeted nature. The company has also made a commitment not to serve ads to users it believes are under the age of 18.<\/p>\n OpenAI says that ChatGPT will maintain \u201canswer independence,\u201d meaning that, despite the incorporation of advertising, those ads will not influence the answers that the chatbot serves to users. The company has also promised not to sell users\u2019 data to advertisers.<\/p>\n This strategy could pay off in two ways. For users of the free and Go tiers, the company obviously stands to make a significant amount of ad revenue. At the same time, there will necessarily be certain users who appreciate the app but don\u2019t appreciate the ads, which could conceivably drive an uptick in subscriptions to the platform\u2019s more expensive accounts. <\/p>\n OpenAI also wants everybody to know that it\u2019s only sticking ads in its chatbot to help the world. In its blog post Friday, the company promised that its \u201cpursuit of advertising is always in support of\u201d its mission: that AGI \u201cbenefits all of humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-16-at-11.05.19-AM.png?w=680\")