ChatGPT to Begin Showing Ads to US Users

Sam Altman has said he hates seeing ads online — he doesn’t like the way they look.

Altman is the CEO of OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT.

But soon, some users of ChatGPT will see ads when they communicate with the AI chatbot. The company says it’s testing these ads on US users to begin with.

People in the US who use the free version of ChatGPT will see ads, and so will people who pay $8 per month for the “Go” plan. Those who pay more for other plans won’t have ads.

These ads will be shown above or below the answers users get from the chatbot.

OpenAI said adult users will see ads “when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current conversation.” For example, if a user asks a question about taking a holiday in Europe, they may see ads about accommodation options in Paris or Rome, or flights to Barcelona.

The company said that ads won’t appear when users ask questions about things like health or politics. It also said that ads will not influence ChatGPT’s answers, and no user data will be sold to advertisers.

Altman has said that his company makes more than $13 billion per year, but it also spends vast amounts of money to run its data centers. He has promised that OpenAI will spend another $1.4 trillion over the next eight years.

OpenAI sees ads as another way to make that money. The company said: “Ads can play a part in making intelligence more accessible to everyone.”

But with these huge sums being invested in the AI boom, some experts are worried that a crash could be coming.