OpenAI begins testing ads in free and Go-tier ChatGPT for US users, aiming to boost revenue amid soaring operational costs.
PARIS: OpenAI has begun testing advertisements within its basic ChatGPT chatbot services.
The company is betting that users will tolerate the interruptions as it seeks new revenue streams to offset its soaring operational costs.
The test will be for logged-in adult users on the Free and Go subscription tiers in the United States.
The Go subscription currently costs USD 8 in the US.
Only a small percentage of its nearly one billion users pay for its premium, ad-free subscription services.
The company emphasised that the new ads will not influence the chatbot’s responses.
“Ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you, and we keep your conversations with ChatGPT private from advertisers,” OpenAI stated.
Since its launch in 2022, OpenAI’s valuation has skyrocketed to USD 500 billion in funding rounds.
Some analysts now speculate the company could pursue a public listing with a trillion-dollar valuation.
However, the ChatGPT maker is burning through cash at a furious rate.
This is largely due to the immense computing power required to deliver its AI services.
Chief executive Sam Altman had long expressed a personal dislike for advertising, citing concerns it could erode trust in ChatGPT’s content.
His recent about-face on the issue did not go unnoticed by competitors.
Rival AI firm Anthropic took a jab at OpenAI over the weekend.
It debuted its own advertising campaign during the Super Bowl, promoting its Claude chatbot as an ad-free alternative.
In one of its commercials, a man receives earnest AI advice about communicating with his mother.
The conversation then bizarrely veers into a pitch for a fictional cougar-dating site called “Golden Encounters”.