OpenAI has begun testing ads in ChatGPT for U.S. users on the Free and Go tiers. Sponsored results appear below ChatGPT’s responses, clearly labeled and targeted to the conversation topic. Paid subscribers (Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, Education) see nothing.
ChatGPT has 800 million weekly users, but industry experts estimate that less than 5 percent pay for the service. OpenAI’s 2025 revenue hit $20 billion, up from $6 billion in 2024, but cumulative losses could reach $143 billion by 2029. Clearly, OpenAI’s math is not mathing.
Sam Altman acknowledged that “a lot of people want to use a lot of AI and don’t want to pay.” CFO Sarah Friar, hired from Nextdoor, and CPO Kevin Weil, who built Instagram’s ad platform, are the OpenAI ad platform architects. They have chosen a pay-per-impression ad model, and dozens of advertisers are in early access.
It’s an interesting test with interesting metrics. Advertisers get aggregate performance data and do not see user conversations. Users can opt out by accepting fewer daily messages or upgrading to a paid plan.
Google has proven that you can translate the currency of intention into wealth, so (at first glance) it makes sense that OpenAI could succeed here as well. Maybe they can, but I’m sad that OpenAI is not thinking harder about how to use their platform to deliver growth to marketers. Displaying an ad, no matter how well-matched to a conversation, feels like trying to solve a 21st-century problem with a 20th-century solution.
The talent they hired tells you where this is headed regardless of what the early tests show. I’m going to keep an open mind. Maybe this will work.
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it. This work was created with the assistance of various generative AI models.