OpenAI announced it will begin testing ads inside ChatGPT in the United States in the coming weeks. The move marks a major shift for the company as it looks for new ways to generate revenue while keeping most paid users ad free.
OpenAI said ads will appear at the bottom of ChatGPT responses and will be clearly labeled. The company emphasized that ads will not affect how ChatGPT answers questions and will remain separate from the AI’s output.
The initial test will apply only to adult users on the free version of ChatGPT in the U.S. Ads will also appear for users on OpenAI’s low cost Go plan, which became available in the U.S. on Friday. OpenAI said its Plus, Pro, and Enterprise subscriptions will not include ads.
This change matters because OpenAI’s costs have grown rapidly as it scales its AI systems. In 2025, the company signed more than $1.4 trillion worth of infrastructure deals to support computing and data center expansion. In November, CEO Sam Altman said OpenAI was on track to reach a $20 billion annualized revenue run rate.
Advertising could help OpenAI support those spending commitments. Digital ads have long been a major revenue source for technology companies such as Google and Meta. Introducing ads into ChatGPT opens a similar path without raising subscription prices for paid users.
Altman acknowledged that many people want access to AI tools without paying for them. Writing on X, he said, “It is clear to us that a lot of people want to use a lot of AI and don’t want to pay, so we are are hopeful a business model like this can work.”
OpenAI said it will place limits on how ads are shown. Users under the age of 18 will not see ads, and ads will not appear near sensitive topics such as politics, health, or mental health. The company also said it will never sell user data to advertisers.
The decision reflects a change in tone from earlier years. Altman had previously warned that ads could weaken trust in ChatGPT. However, he has also said that ads were likely inevitable at some point, even if they were not expected to become OpenAI’s main source of revenue.
As testing begins, OpenAI said users will be able to see why a specific ad is shown, dismiss ads, and provide feedback. The company said it plans to learn from user responses and adjust how ads appear over time.
Looking ahead, the ad test signals OpenAI’s effort to balance massive infrastructure costs with broad access to AI tools. If successful, ads could allow ChatGPT to remain widely available while preserving an ad free experience for paid and enterprise users.
