OpenAI is beginning to test advertisements inside ChatGPT, a move that signals a major shift in how the artificial intelligence company plans to generate revenue and sustain its costly operations. Historically, OpenAI avoided ads and similar monetization tactics — especially in its early, nonprofit phase — but mounting financial pressures and the need to fund massive AI infrastructure are leading it to explore ad-supported models reminiscent of Meta’s advertising-driven approach.
The strategic change reflects broader leadership influences: OpenAI’s CEO of applications, Fidji Simo, previously played a key role in building Facebook’s advertising engine during the 2010s, and her experience is informing how ads might be introduced in ChatGPT without overwhelming users. While the tests are expected to be limited at first — potentially resembling Google’s more discreet ad style rather than Meta’s immersive ecosystem — the evolution shows that AI companies are now thinking seriously about monetizing engagement directly.
OpenAI’s leadership acknowledges that large AI models are expensive to train and operate, requiring billions in funding as the company expands its technology footprint. As such, ads are being positioned as one of several revenue streams to support ongoing research and product development, even as the organization continues to raise capital and seek investments to cover operating losses and future growth challenges.
The move also raises questions about user trust and content integrity. Before ads were even introduced, critics voiced concerns about how AI systems can sometimes produce misleading answers or reinforce biases, and adding ads could complicate OpenAI’s efforts to maintain credibility and reliability in its services. How OpenAI balances commercial pressures with user experience and trust will be closely watched as the ad experiments roll out.
