ChatGPT to introduce advertising on free and go tiers in the US

OpenAI plans to introduce advertising on ChatGPT’s free and Go tiers in the US to offset rising compute costs. As paid subscriptions remain limited, ads emerge as a key revenue lever, raising fresh questions around privacy, trust, and AI monetization.

OpenAI is preparing to roll out advertising on ChatGPT’s free and low-cost “Go” subscription tiers in the United States, as the company looks to diversify revenue streams amid mounting infrastructure and compute costs.

ChatGPT Go, OpenAI’s most affordable paid plan, has been available in 171 countries since August and is now launching in the US at $8 per month. In the coming weeks, OpenAI plans to begin testing ads on both the free and Go tiers, according to Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s CEO of applications. Higher-priced subscriptions—Pro, Business, and Enterprise—will remain ad-free.

The move reflects the company’s growing financial pressures. Only around 5 percent of ChatGPT’s weekly active users—roughly 35 million people as of July 2025—currently pay for Plus ($20/month) or Pro ($200/month) subscriptions, according to The Information. OpenAI reportedly projects that by 2030, about 8.5 percent of its anticipated 2.6 billion weekly users will subscribe to Plus, leaving the vast majority on non-paying tiers.

With limited conversion to paid plans, advertising appears to be a critical revenue lever. OpenAI has committed to spending more than $1 trillion over time on compute and infrastructure in pursuit of artificial general intelligence (AGI), and reportedly lost over $11.5 billion in the third quarter alone, based on disclosures from Microsoft, one of its largest investors.

Online advertising, by contrast, remains highly lucrative. Google generated more than $74 billion in ad revenue in Q3 2025, while Meta earned over $50 billion during the same period—figures that highlight why OpenAI may see ads as unavoidable.

Simo emphasized that ads will not influence ChatGPT’s responses and will be clearly labeled and separated from conversational output. Advertising will be excluded for users under 18 and for queries related to sensitive topics such as health and politics. Users will also be able to control ad personalization settings, and OpenAI reiterated that it does not sell user conversation data to advertisers.

However, privacy advocates have raised concerns. Miranda Bogen, director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s AI Governance Lab, warned that even without direct data sharing, targeted advertising models can create harmful incentives around user privacy.

“Business models based on targeted advertising put really dangerous incentives in place,” Bogen said, noting that people increasingly rely on chatbots as companions, advisors, and informal therapists. “AI companies should be careful not to repeat the mistakes made by social media platforms.”

OpenAI’s approach contrasts with mixed results elsewhere in the AI industry. While Meta has successfully integrated AI into its ad ecosystem, Perplexity paused onboarding new advertisers in late 2025 after its ad strategy underperformed.

Whether users can block ChatGPT ads remains uncertain. Ad-blocking tools may work in browsers, but are likely to be less effective in OpenAI’s native desktop apps. The practical impact will become clearer once ad testing begins.

As OpenAI balances growth, trust, and financial sustainability, its shift toward advertising signals a broader turning point in how consumer AI platforms may be monetized at scale.