ChatGPT may soon show ads: Early tests revealed in Android beta
OpenAI has started testing ads inside ChatGPT, with early users spotting banners and code references to upcoming ad features. Leaked strings in the Android beta hint at formats like search ads, carousels and possible targeting options.
New Delhi: OpenAI has begun to run advertisements on ChatGPT, indicating that the firm is soon likely to roll out a new type of revenue on its trending AI chatbot. One of the screenshots that was posted online depicted an advertisement banner at the bottom of the ChatGPT interface, which indicated initial experiments are in the works. The move follows previous coverage of OpenAI discussing ad-based monetisation since August, just after Fidji Simo, the founder of ad-led expansion at Meta, had become CEO of Applications.
The tests indicate OpenAI might be getting ready to roll out further, particularly for free-tier users. Although the company has not reported details to the outside world, initial glimpses indicate the advertisements may be displayed within the chat rooms, and this begs the question of how the experience may transform among the millions of users.
Code hints reveal possible ad formats
AIPRM Lead Engineer Tibor Blaho published the code snippets of the ChatGPT Android beta (version 1.2025.329) containing repeated mentions of the term ads.feature. Others had the words 'ad target', 'bazaar content', 'search ad' and 'search ads carousel' written on them, which alluded to possible formats such as targeted ads, search-based ads and display carousels. These materials fail to validate the final design, but they suggest that several types of ads are under consideration.
Early ad appearance Not Yet Targeted
Yuchen Jin posted another screenshot of a bottom banner advertisement that said, 'Find a fitness class, connect Peloton.' He observed that the advertisement did not connect to the current conversation, which implies that OpenAI is not at the point of testing specific adverts. Assuming that the targeted ads were to be launched in the future, it might lead to privacy issues in the context of the analysis of the user conversations.
Though OpenAI has yet to validate its ultimate strategy, subscribers, such as Plus and Pro, are projected to stay advertisement-free. Advertisements can be the most common with free-tier members and, possibly, even with ChatGPT Go subscribers, as the plan will be cheaper. The experiments are currently limited, but it will be one of the largest changes in the operations of ChatGPT in the near future.