ChatGPT users may soon start seeing ads in their chats, as OpenAI announced on Monday that it is officially starting to test ads on its AI platform. They will appear as labeled “sponsored” links at the bottom of ChatGPT’s answers, but OpenAI says the ads “do not affect the answers ChatGPT gives you.”
Currently, ads will only be shown to users of the free version of ChatGPT or the lowest priced Go plan of $8 per month. Users on the Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education plans won’t see any ads, so anyone who wants to avoid them must pay at least $20 a month for a Plus subscription. There’s one loophole — OpenAI notes that users can “opt out of ads on the free tier in exchange for fewer daily free messages.”
Go users cannot opt out of seeing ads, but Free and Go users can opt out of ads, share ad feedback, turn off ad personalization, turn off ads based on past chats, and delete their ad data. According to OpenAI, advertisers only get data on “aggregated ad impressions and clicks,” not personalized data or content from ChatGPT users’ conversations.
In addition, not all users and chats will be eligible for advertisements, including users under 18 and conversations on certain sensitive topics such as health, mental health or politics. Even adult users with Free and Go chatbot plans may not start seeing ads right away, as the feature is still in testing.