Tech Desk 
Jan 17, 2026
OpenAI has announced its plan to begin showing ads in ChatGPT to some United States (US) users, ramping up efforts to boost revenue from the AI chatbot to fund the high expenses of developing the AI technology.
OpenAI said: "The ads will be tested with users on the company's free tier and the lower-priced Go plan that it is now expanding globally.
"They will show up in the coming weeks and will be separate from the answers generated by ChatGPT. Advertising would not influence ChatGPT's outputs and that user conversations would not be shared with marketers.," added the company.
Will ChatGPT Plus and Premium users see ads?
It should be noted that ChatGPT users on the Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise tiers will not have ads while using the OpenAI-owned AI chatbot.
The move marks a major departure for the company that had so far relied on subscriptions. It shows the pressure OpenAI faces to increase revenue as it spends heavily on data centers and prepares for a widely anticipated initial public offering.
"We plan to test ads at the bottom of answers in ChatGPT when there's a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current conversation," said OpenAI.
The company further added that it would not show ads to users under 18 and it plans to block ads from appearing in relation to sensitive topics, such as health and politics.
