OpenAI (OPENAI) confirmed on Monday that it will begin testing advertisements inside its near-ubiquitous ChatGPT AI chatbot, starting today.
“The test will be for logged-in adult users on the Free and Go subscription tiers. Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education tiers will not have ads,” the company said on its website. “Ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you, and we keep your conversations with ChatGPT private from advertisers. Our goal is for ads to support broader access to more powerful ChatGPT features while maintaining the trust people place in ChatGPT for important and personal tasks. We’re starting with a test to learn, listen, and make sure we get the experience right.”
“Our goal is to give everyone access to ChatGPT for free with fewer limits, while protecting the trust they place in it for important and personal tasks,” OpenAI added in a post on X.
ChatGPT Go is priced at $8 per month in the U.S., compared to ChatGPT Plus and ChatGPT Pro, which are priced at $20 and $200 per month, respectively.
The Microsoft (MSFT)-backed OpenAI (OPENAI) said earlier this year that it would begin testing ads inside ChatGPT shortly.
OpenAI’s CEO of Applications Fidji Simo has been looking for someone to oversee monetization efforts, including bringing advertising to ChatGPT. It was reported in September that Simo had met with potential candidates, including some of her former colleagues from Facebook (META) to lead a new team that will bring ads to ChatGPT.
OpenAI’s confirmation comes one day after competitor Anthropic (ANTHRO) aired a pair of TV spots during the Super Bowl that poked fun at the coming insertion of ads. Those spots appeared to resonate with consumers —TV measurement company EDO said Anthropic’s spots generated more searches and website visits than OpenAI’s three advertisements, signaling a shift in how AI companies are competing for mainstream users.