ChatGPT will begin to include advertisements along with answers for US users as OpenAI looks for a new revenue stream.
Ads will first be tested in ChatGPIT only for US users, the company announced on Friday, following growing speculation that the San Francisco firm would turn to the potential cashflow model on top of its existing subscriptions.
Ads will begin rolling out in the coming weeks and will be included above or below rather than within answers. Mock-ups broadcast by the company show the advertisements in a colored box. According to OpenAI’s announcement, they will be served to adult users “when a relevant sponsored product or service becomes available based on your current conversation.” Ads will not be shown to users under 18 and will not be shown with answers related to sensitive topics such as health, mental health or politics. According to OpenAI, users will be able to click through to learn why they received a particular ad.
Previously, OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, had expressed reluctance to introduce advertising into chatbots: “I hate ads just as an aesthetic choice.” His company has committed to spending more than $1 trillion on infrastructure supporting AI in the coming years. Altman said revenues are running more than $13 billion per year.
“Maybe (larger language models) could have ads outside of the stream that are still really cool, but the burden of proof there would be much higher. And it would have to feel really useful to users and really make it clear that it’s not messing with the output of the model,” Altman said recently. “I think it will be very difficult, we have to be very careful to get it right. People have a very high level of trust in ChatGPT.”
In a blogpost on Friday, OpenAI attempted to reconcile Altman’s distaste for ads with the need for revenue: “Our enterprise and subscription businesses are already strong, and we believe in a diversified revenue model where ads can play a role in making intelligence more accessible to everyone. We look forward to hearing people’s feedback once we begin testing our first ad formats in the coming weeks and months.”
The company is also launching ChatGPIT Go, which it offers as a low-cost subscription tier at $8 per month.
