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Is OpenAI Preparing to Bring Ads to ChatGPT? (bleepingcomputer.com) 42

Posted by EditorDavid from the ads-and-subtracts dept.
"OpenAI is now internally testing 'ads' inside ChatGPT," reports BleepingComputer: Up until now, the ChatGPT experience has been completelyfree. While there are premium plans and models, you don't see GPT sell you products or show ads. On the other hand, Google Search has ads that influence your buying behaviour. OpenAI is planning to replicate a similar experience.

As spotted [by software engineer Tibor Blaho] on X.com,ChatGPT Android app 1.2025.329 beta includes new references to an "ads feature" with "bazaar content", "search ad" and "search ads carousel."

This move could disrupt the web economy,as what most people don't understand is that GPT likely knows more about users than Google. For example, OpenAI could create personalised ads on ChatGPT that promote products that you really want to buy... The leak suggests that ads will initially be limited to the search experience only, but this may change in the future.

Is OpenAI Preparing to Bring Ads to ChatGPT? More | Reply

Is OpenAI Preparing to Bring Ads to ChatGPT?

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  • Well duh! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Tony Isaac ( 1301187 ) on Sunday November 30, 2025 @11:38AM (#65826353) Homepage

    Of course they are, and they were on that trajectory since the very beginning. Did anyone actually believe it was really going to continue to be a nonprofit org?

    • Re:Well duh! (Score:5, Interesting)

      by fuzzyfuzzyfungus ( 1223518 ) on Sunday November 30, 2025 @11:50AM (#65826369) Journal
      From what little we get to see of their books; I full expect them to continue as an aggressively nonprofit org; for a while.

      I further expect them to do so in a spirit of arrogant, rapacious, desperation that will just keep getting more intense until that while is up.

      • They aren't a non-profit now. They are a money-losing pre-IPO company.

        The fact that they adopted a complex structure to obscure this (the OpenAI Foundation owns a 26% stake in the for-profit part) is simply a shell game. Before they attempt an IPO expect the corporate structure to get changed yet again.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      It reminds me of all the freebies one could get during the dot-com bubble; once it popped ads became ever more frequent, then they required payment for service, then they died.

    • "hey chatGPT, what are some healthy food options"

      KFC—Guilty—Pleasure—Power—Pack—Here—we—go.

      Introducing—the—Mega—Bucket—of—Regret—your—one—way—ticket—to—crispy—chaos. Dive—into—our—Triple—Cheese—Mashed—Bowl—Surprise—which—contains—exactly—zero—surprises—but—does—contain—your—daily—cal

    • Re:Well duh! (Score:4, Interesting)

      by timeOday ( 582209 ) on Sunday November 30, 2025 @07:49PM (#65827059)
      The question is whether the ads will be separate, like banner ads (albeit probably informed by your discussions) or woven into the responses themselves, whcih would be bad bad bad.

    • Does this mean they intend on eliminating all tiers, and offering all services for free now? Since we're no longer the customers, we're the product???

      • Of course not!

        Remember cable TV? It was introduced in the 1970s as a way to eliminate the need for advertising in TV. Customers would pay a monthly fee for the service, and in exchange, there would be no advertising.

        Well, if you've seen any cable TV lately, you know that what we actually got, was a *high* monthly fee, *plus* advertising.

        AI won't be any different.

  • Free ChatGPT is rubbish for coding. For every bug it fixes, it creates two new ones - sometimes three.

    And no, I don't want ads. I have never, ever, bought anything from an online advert in over 20 years of using the internet (Yes, I started when it was Arpanet).

    • Re:Can anyone recommend an alternative? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by fph il quozientatore ( 971015 ) on Sunday November 30, 2025 @11:46AM (#65826365)
      Are they going to put ads in generated code? Like printf("Buy Coca Cola\n")?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Teckla ( 630646 )

        Are they going to put ads in generated code? Like printf("Buy Coca Cola\n")?

        Brawndo!

        It's What Code Craves!

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gweihir ( 88907 )

        Hahahaha, attackers can now pay to get malware placed! I see great business opportunities here.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Teun ( 17872 )
        Would/could a new version of uBlock Origin catch it?

    • Claude is much better for coding.

    • Time flies, 20 is only 2005, which was full swing internet. I'd say 40, well really close to 50. I was using email in school on arpa in 78 or 79. Commercial beginnings were mid-80's I think. I worked for a defense contractor early 80's and the project managers were communicating with DoD via arpa email. Mere worker bees like me were using email, but I think all internal if I remember right, on a VAX/VMS system, and near the end of my stint there, Sun's. So long ago a bit foggy. I do recall in 92 submitting

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      It must have found the Dilbert [devhumor.com] comic strip. And learned something about job security.

      • Ah, for the days before we discovered that Adams always intended for Pointy Haired Boss to be the hero of the cartoon.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      I have a student looking into commercial alternatives and using ChatGPT free as one reference point. At least with regard to code security, the commercial alternatives are somewhat better but still catastrophically bad. I guess the same is true for code functionality, with ChatGPT failing at tiny examples and the commercial alternatives at small ones.

    • "Google AI Studio" has a free tier that allows API access to the latest Gemini models for code generation. There are no ads when you use them through an API. Of course, you have to code or otherwise obtain a front-end that can do that.

      The free tier is only good for an individual developer, and the use restrictions might be a bit too tight for devoted professional code development work. But if you are using it for professional work, then you can spring for a paid tier anyway.

  • If the litigation is anything to go by; their "Suicide Solution" nostalgia callback colab with Sony Music Entertainment should be a hit!
  • Somebody with a nice gold ring, and then attaching it to a hog's snout

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Well, at least they would have a nice gold ring and a hog! I am not sure OpenAI has that much in real assets.

  • The enshittification begins (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Sunday November 30, 2025 @12:19PM (#65826409)

    and the product hasn't even become attractive and popular yet. OpenAI forgot that step...

  • If I was searching for a product and AI accurately determined the best product that fit my needs, I would consider it useful.
    If instead, it pushed whatever it was paid to promote, even if the product was crap that didn't meet my needs, it would suck mightily.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Now make a reasonable guess which one it will be. Oh, and LLMs cannot accurately determine what your needs are.

  • Maybe the also will try product placement? Ie, making the generated results favor certain actors or products - if they pay. Given the abysmal transparency of typical LLM output, and how regulatory bodies may be insufficiently staffed, lacking suitable laws (at least outside the EU), or crippled by some madman administration, they may try ...

  • Time to upgrade? (Score:3)

    by klipclop ( 6724090 ) on Sunday November 30, 2025 @01:25PM (#65826543)
    If you're using the free version, it's only natural that openAI will eventually want to monetize the freeloaders if their training data doesn't cover operational costs. I've been paying for ChatGPT for over a year and would expect the paid accounts to remain ad free. If the paid accounts also start to receive adds, I'll migrate to another paid LLM service that's ad free.
  • They have been halluinacting a profit since the beginning,

  • Meh (Score:2)

    by allo ( 1728082 )

    Of course they do. But at the moment people just found some strings that look like they plan to include an ad framework. If they want to sneak stuff in responses they don't need to change the app. Companies using ads is no news. Write an article, when they use LLM to write their ads.

  • Indeed (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    "OpenAI could create personalised ads on ChatGPT that promote products that you really want to buy.."

    That tiny charcoal grill that's just big enough to commit suicide in your tiny bathroom, plus the duct-tape to put around the door and window.

  • I already canceled paying $20/mo for Gemini due to Ads in my paid service. When they all have Ads I’ll either switch to Chinese AI or pay a small fortune for home AI server with open source uncensored AI.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ledow ( 319597 )

      I refuse to have ads in any paid service.

      My Slashdot still has Disable Advertising (from donating back in the day) and every now and then they STILL JUST IGNORE IT.

      Fortunately, it's not an ongonig subscription, so I don't really care that much but - I paid for a reason. The button is still there for a reason. Honour it, or give me my money back.

      I wouldn't ever pay a monthly subscription and then tolerate even a single second of an ad or one appearing on the screen anywhere. It's one or the other, not mix

  • Excessively targeted ads is why I dumped Instagram over five years ago. If this comes to GPT and can't be altered, I'm out. I'll find alternatives, it's a deal-breaker.

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