Katarzyna Petru
From today, ChatGPT is testing adverts in the USA, including logged-in, adult users of the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise subscriptions remain ad-free. The company emphasises that the aim of the test is to support the further development of the service while maintaining user trust. At this stage, feedback is being collected to help refine the new solution.
Why ChatGPT is Introducing Advertisements
ChatGPT is used by hundreds of millions of users for learning, work, and everyday decisions, and maintaining high performance in the Free and Go plans requires significant investment in infrastructure. Advertisements are intended to help fund the further development of the service and ensure widespread access to AI in free and cheaper variants. Those who do not wish to see advertisements can choose Plus or Pro, or turn off ads in the Free plan at the cost of a lower daily message limit.
How advertisements work and what about user privacy
The introduced advertisements do not affect ChatGPT's responses, which remain neutral and focused on genuinely assisting the user. Sponsored content is always clearly marked and separated from the responses, and its selection is based solely on the overall context of the conversation and previous interactions with advertisements, without access to private chats or personal data. Advertisers receive only aggregate statistics, such as the number of views or clicks.
During testing, advertisements will not be shown to underage users or in the context of sensitive topics such as health, mental health, or politics. Users retain full control over the advertisements; they can reject them, submit feedback, check the reasons for their display, and manage personalisation or delete advertising data with one click.
Advertisements in ChatGPT are to be safe, transparent, and under full user control, without interference in the content of responses and without access to private conversations. The company emphasises that this is a test solution, gradually developed with a focus on user privacy and trust.
source: openai.com
