OpenAI has announced that it will begin testing advertisements in ChatGPT for users in the United States, marking a significant shift in how the company plans to fund broader access to its AI tools. The ad rollout will apply only to the Free and Go plans, while paid tiers — Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise — will remain completely ad-free.
In its announcement, OpenAI sought to get ahead of criticism by stressing that advertising will not affect ChatGPT’s core behaviour. The company framed the move as a way to keep advanced AI tools accessible to more people, arguing that large-scale AI usage requires sustainable funding models.
We are starting to test ads in ChatGPT free and Go (new $8/month option) tiers.
Here are our principles. Most importantly, we will not accept money to influence the answer ChatGPT gives you, and we keep your conversations private from advertisers.
It is clear to us that a lot… https://t.co/f9Dv53rWU7
— Sam Altman (@sama) January 16, 2026
According to OpenAI, generative AI is increasingly acting as a highly personal digital assistant, and the challenge now is to ensure access is not limited to those who can afford premium subscriptions. To address this, the company is leaning on two approaches: lower-cost subscriptions, such as the ChatGPT Go plan already available in more than 170 countries, and limited advertising for its lowest tiers.
In practical terms, OpenAI says advertising will help reduce usage limits on Free and Go accounts, offering users more flexibility in exchange for seeing sponsored content. Higher-tier subscribers, by contrast, will continue to receive an ad-free experience along with stronger guarantees around control, privacy, and consistency.
A key point OpenAI emphasised is the separation between ads and AI-generated responses. Sponsored content will appear only when relevant to the conversation, will be clearly labelled, and will be displayed separately at the bottom of responses. The company insists that advertisements will not influence how ChatGPT answers questions or provides information.
Despite these assurances, the move places OpenAI in sensitive territory. ChatGPT is often used for deeply personal, professional, or emotional conversations, making trust a central concern. While OpenAI has repeatedly stated that advertisers will not shape responses, users are likely to scrutinise how strictly that boundary is enforced once ads begin appearing.
The ad testing phase will determine whether OpenAI can strike a balance between monetisation and user trust — a challenge that many digital platforms have struggled with before. For now, the company is betting that transparency and clear separation between ads and AI output will be enough to reassure its growing user base.
