OpenAI starts testing ChatGPT ads for US users

Ads are invading ChatGPT for the first time ever, and OpenAI is rolling them out to free users and budget subscribers starting right now in America.

Who's getting hit with the banners

• Free-tier users are the primary guinea pigs for this experiment.
• Go subscribers paying eight bucks monthly will also see them.
• Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education plans remain ad-free for now.
• OpenAI claims it's collecting feedback before going wider with rollout.

The company's pitch on answer integrity

• Conversations stay completely private from anyone buying ad space, supposedly.
• Sponsored content gets labeled clearly and separated from actual responses.
• ChatGPT's replies won't shift based on which brands pay up.
• OpenAI frames this as funding broader access to premium features.

How the targeting algorithm works

• Past conversations and research topics determine which ads you see.
• Someone hunting recipes might get meal kit or grocery delivery pitches.
• Advertisers receive aggregated metrics like clicks without individual user details.
• Users can check their ad history, wipe it clean, or tweak personalization settings.

Anthropic's brutal Super Bowl clapback

• Claude's maker aired commercials roasting the concept of AI chatbot ads.
• One spot showed a guy seeking mom advice getting redirected to cougar dating sites.
• The tagline hammered home that Claude stays ad-free while competitors monetize.
• Sam Altman fired back, calling Anthropic dishonest and authoritarian after the campaign.