OpenAI has announced plans to start testing advertisements in the free version of ChatGPT for adult users in the US, while its paid Plus, Pro, and Enterprise plans remain ad-free.
The company stated that customers of its low-cost Go offering, which launched last week (16 January) in the country, will also begin to receive the ads but the ads will appear at the bottom of ChatGPT responses, clearly separated and labelled as such.
It also stated that the advertisements will not influence ChatGPT’s responses and that it will never sell data and conversation information to advertisers. Users can switch off personalization and clear data used for ads at any time.
“Ads will be clearly labelled and separated from the organic answer,” OpenAI stated. “You’ll be able to learn more about why you’re seeing that ad or dismiss any ad and tell us why.”
Ads will appear at the bottom of answers in ChatGPT when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current conversation. You’ll be able to learn more about why you’re seeing that ad, or dismiss any ad and state why.
The ads would however not be eligible to appear near sensitive or regulated topics like health, mental health or politics.