OpenAI is already pushing the boundaries of advertising. The company announced on Friday that it will begin testing ads on its ChatGPT free tier and new Go plan in the coming weeks for logged-in adult users in the United States.
While the Premium, Pro, Business and Enterprise editions will remain ad-free, the move marks a major shift in how the AI maker plans to monetize its massive user base.
In the coming weeks, we plan to start testing ads in ChatGPT free and Go tiers.
We’re sharing our principles early on how we’ll approach ads–guided by putting user trust and transparency first as we work to make AI accessible to everyone.
What matters most:
– Responses in… pic.twitter.com/3UQJsdriYR— OpenAI (@OpenAI) January 16, 2026
OpenAI outlines several transparency guardrails for news ads to maintain user trust.
Ads will appear at the bottom of replies when relevant products or services match the chat topic, and sponsored ad spots will be clearly labeled and visually distinguished from the AI core