[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-openai-will-pilot-ads-in-chatgpt-to-fund-wider-free-access":10},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":22,"tags":24,"sources":28,"feedback":32,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":32,"total_tokens":32},1081,"openai-will-pilot-ads-in-chatgpt-to-fund-wider-free-access","OpenAI will pilot ads in ChatGPT to fund wider free access","The company says ad tests on its free and Plus plans aim to keep the service cheap while safeguarding privacy and response quality.","OpenAI announced it will run advertising experiments on ChatGPT’s free and Plus (Go) tiers in the United States.\n\nThe tests will place modest, label‑clear ads alongside user prompts, with revenue earmarked for subsidising free usage elsewhere. OpenAI stresses that ad placement will not alter the model’s answers, and that data used for targeting will stay anonymised to protect user privacy.\n\nIf the pilot works, OpenAI could lower the price barrier for millions of users in markets where paying for the service is prohibitive. The move also signals a shift from the pure subscription model that has dominated large‑scale AI offerings since ChatGPT launched in 2022. Competitors like Anthropic and Google have stuck to tiered pricing without ads, so OpenAI’s approach could set a new revenue baseline for the industry.\n\nWhether ads will dilute the user experience remains to be seen, but the company’s insistence on “trust‑first” safeguards suggests it is aware of the trade‑off. The experiment will likely become a reference point for any AI service that hopes to balance free access with sustainable financing.","[\"openai\",\"advertising\",\"ai-business\"]","2026-01-16T00:00:00.000Z","2026-06-16T08:44:41.445Z","2026-06-16T08:44:44.361Z","published",null,[],[25,26,27],"openai","advertising","ai-business",[29],{"name":30,"url":31},"OpenAI","https:\u002F\u002Fopenai.com\u002Findex\u002Four-approach-to-advertising-and-expanding-access",0]