ChatGPT now shows ads to free users—here’s how to opt out

Dubai: One of the biggest names in artificial intelligence has just made a move that's got the tech world talking. OpenAI has begun testing advertisements inside ChatGPT, marking a significant shift in how the company plans to make money from its hugely popular chatbot.

OpenAI has officially started showing ads to certain ChatGPT users in the United States. The adverts appear at the bottom of chat conversations, clearly labelled as sponsored content and visually separated from the AI's actual responses.

For now, the test applies only to logged-in adult users on the Free and Go subscription tiers. If you're on a Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Education plan, you won't be seeing any adverts during this testing period.

The short answer is money, though OpenAI frames it rather more diplomatically. The company says that keeping the free and lower-cost tiers of ChatGPT fast, reliable and constantly improving requires enormous investment in infrastructure.

In its official blog, OpenAI explained that advertising is intended to support broader access to more powerful ChatGPT features whilst maintaining the trust users place in the service. Essentially, ads help fund the free version so that more people around the world can continue using it without paying.

That said, CNBC sources suggest that advertising won't become OpenAI's primary source of income. It's expected to account for less than half of the company's total revenue, with additional money coming from purchases made through ChatGPT's shopping integration feature.

This is the question most users will want answered, and OpenAI is very clear on the matter. Adverts will not influence ChatGPT's responses in any way. The company states that answers are optimised purely based on what's most helpful to the user, with no advertiser input whatsoever.

Ads are also not eligible to appear in conversations involving sensitive subjects such as health, mental health or politics, which should offer some reassurance to users who rely on ChatGPT for more personal or serious matters.

The ad selection process works by matching adverts with the topic of your current conversation, your past chats and your previous interactions with ads. So if you're chatting about holiday destinations, you might see travel deals. If you're looking up recipes, expect to see meal kit promotions or grocery delivery services.

Users do have some control over this process. You can turn off personalisation, clear your collected ad data with a single tap and manage your ad preferences at any time. OpenAI has also been firm in stating that it does not sell or transfer chat information to advertisers. Advertisers only receive general performance data such as the number of views or clicks their ads receive.

OpenAI insists that conversation privacy remains a core principle. Advertisers have no access to your chat history, memories or personal details. The company has also stated that it will build protections to reduce the risk of scams and misleading adverts as the programme develops.

Users under the age of 18 will not see adverts during the testing period, and OpenAI says it will expand the programme responsibly as safeguards continue to improve.

Yes, though with a catch. If you'd prefer not to see adverts at all, you can upgrade to a Plus or Pro subscription plan. Alternatively, you can opt out of ads whilst remaining on the Free tier, but this will result in fewer daily free messages being available to you.

The timing of OpenAI's announcement didn't go unnoticed by its rivals. Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, cheekily aired a commercial during the Super Bowl that referenced the arrival of ads in AI assistants, making it clear that Claude remains ad-free. It was a pointed piece of marketing that landed rather well on social media.

OpenAI has described this as a learning phase, with the company paying close attention to user feedback before expanding the programme further. Over time, it plans to introduce additional ad formats and new ways for businesses to connect with users through ChatGPT.

The company has also opened a sign-up page at openai.com/advertisers for businesses interested in advertising within ChatGPT as the programme grows.

For now the ads are being rolled out only in the U.S and users in the UAE do not have to be worried about them. For most casual users, the adverts are unlikely to dramatically change the ChatGPT experience, particularly given that they appear separately from responses and can be personalised or dismissed.

The more pressing concern for some will be whether this marks the beginning of a broader commercial shift that could eventually compromise the quality or independence of the service.

For now, OpenAI is sticking firmly to its promise that answers will always remain independent, conversations will stay private and users will keep meaningful control over their experience.

Areeba Hashmi is a trainee at Gulf News.