OpenAI announced that it will start showing ads to users on ChatGPT’s free and least-expensive plans as part of a test to explore new revenue models and help the company reach profitability.
CEO Sam Altman confirmed on X that the change will affect ChatGPT Free and ChatGPT Go users, who pay $8 per month. Pro, Business, and Enterprise tiers will remain ad-free. Altman said the experience will be similar to Instagram ads, aiming to make them “ever more useful to users.”
OpenAI emphasized that ads will not influence ChatGPT responses, will be clearly labeled, and user conversations will remain private from advertisers.
With 2.5 billion prompts submitted daily, free and Go users could encounter sponsored content during their interactions. Altman noted that many users want to use AI without paying, and this approach could help OpenAI generate revenue from that demand.
OpenAI faces growing competition from Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, Meta, and other AI platforms. While ChatGPT was first to market, rivals are rapidly catching up, and enterprise clients have started favoring other services like Claude.
OpenAI has struggled with profitability since ChatGPT’s launch in November 2022. Despite reaching over 100 million users, the costs of running and training AI models remain high. Altman previously stated that the company was on track for $20 billion in annualized revenue in 2025, but the addition of ads could help fund ongoing operations and growth.
This move marks a significant shift for OpenAI as it seeks sustainable revenue from its massive free-user base while keeping premium users ad-free.
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