OpenAI Begins Testing Ads on Free and Go Plans in the US

Amid the growing ‘ad war’ between rivals OpenAI and Anthropic, OpenAI has begun testing advertisements in the United States for users on its Free and Go subscription tiers, the company announced on Monday.

The Go plan, a lower-cost subscription priced at $8 a month in the US, was launched globally in mid-January. Users on OpenAI’s paid tiers, including Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education, will not see ads, the company said.

Addressing concerns about user experience, OpenAI said advertising would not affect how ChatGPT responds. “Ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you, and we keep your conversations with ChatGPT private from advertisers,” the company wrote in a blog post. It added that ads are intended to support wider access to more powerful features while maintaining user trust.

The move, first signalled last month, has already drawn criticism from rival Anthropic, which ran Super Bowl adverts mocking the idea of ads inside AI chatbots. The commercials portrayed AI assistants delivering advice alongside awkward, poorly targeted advertisements. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman hit back, calling the campaign “dishonest” and describing Anthropic as an “authoritarian company”.

Consumers have historically been wary of advertising in AI tools. OpenAI faced backlash last year after testing app suggestions that some users viewed as intrusive ads. Nonetheless, the company is under pressure to generate revenue to offset the high costs of developing and running large AI models.

OpenAI said its ads will be clearly labelled, kept separate from organic responses, and tailored to be “most helpful”. While ad targeting may draw on conversation topics and past interactions, advertisers will only receive aggregated performance data. Users will be able to review, dismiss, and manage ad personalisation, and ads will not appear for users under 18 or alongside sensitive topics such as health, politics, or mental health.