It was expected that OpenAI would add advertisements to ChatGPT. This popular AI chatbot, which has been completely ad-free until now, will soon start showing ads for free users and for the paid Go subscription members. OpenAI will begin testing in the coming weeks for logged-in users in the United States, with other countries likely to follow later.
The ads appear at the bottom of ChatGPT’s responses and take up about a third of your screen. They are targeted ads based on your conversation with the AI assistant, and they are clearly marked as ‘sponsored’. If you don’t want to see ads, you’ll need to pay at least 23 euros per month for a ChatGPT Plus subscription to stay ad-free.
OpenAI adds advertising to ChatGPT
OpenAI introduces ads in ChatGPT to cover high operational costs and generate additional revenue. In the first half of 2025, the company made a loss of $7.8 billion, despite revenue of $4.3 billion, and expects to lose $17 billion in 2026. ChatGPT costs around $700,000 daily due to its expensive servers and GPUs for AI processing. Only five percent of its 800 million users pay for a subscription, so OpenAI uses ads to monetize its large group of free users.
Ads appear at the bottom of the answers for free users and subscribers of the cheap Go plan, while users of more expensive plans such as Plus (23 euros per month) do not see any ads.
It is not yet clear whether and how advertisements in ChatGPT will affect the integration with Apple Intelligence and Siri. Since iOS 18.2, users can use ChatGPT directly through Siri and Writing Assistant, with Siri asking permission before sending questions to ChatGPT. Due to Apple’s strict privacy policies and user data protection, it seems unlikely that Apple will allow ads in Siri.
Which subscriptions receive advertising?
OpenAI pushes the ads to two categories of users. First, all free users of ChatGPT will see advertisements. In addition, ads also appear to users of ChatGPT Go, the cheapest paid subscription that costs $8 (about €7.30) per month and has been available worldwide since January 16, 2026.
Users of the more expensive subscriptions will remain free from advertisements for the time being. ChatGPT Plus (23 euros per month), Pro (229 euros per month), Business and Enterprise remain completely ad-free. OpenAI mainly wants to cover the enormous costs: last year the company closed infrastructure deals worth more than 1.4 trillion dollars.
Protection for sensitive subjects and minors
OpenAI has several measures to use advertisements responsibly. No advertisements are shown on sensitive topics such as mental health, health problems and politics. ChatGPT’s answers also remain free of advertising. In addition, OpenAI promises that user data will never be sold to advertisers.
Minors receive extra protection: users who say they are under 18 years old will not see advertisements. Even if the chatbot thinks someone is underage, no advertisements are shown. During the test, users can understand why certain ads appear, click away and provide feedback.
First test only in America
OpenAI emphasizes that the introduction of advertisements will be limited to the United States for the time being. The company views this as a testing phase that collects feedback to improve the presentation of ads over time. It has not yet been announced when the commercials will come to Europe and other regions.
For OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, the introduction of advertisements is a remarkable change of direction. He previously called advertising a “last resort” and expressed his personal distaste for it. Altman feared that users would trust a chatbot less if they thought it sold products.