The ChatGPT app is getting ads, but Google's Gemini app isn't for now

OpenAI said it would not share advertising profiles with other companies. — Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO: OpenAI has announced plans to introduce ads to ChatGPT, with tests in the United States set to start "in the coming weeks" – well ahead of Google, which says it does not have plans to show ads in its Gemini app.

Your chat history inside ChatGPT will be used to create ads that target your preferences, but OpenAI notes that you can turn off "personalisation" if you want.

OpenAI gives an example of a user searching for Mexican dinner ideas and ChatGPT suggesting a specific hot sauce in a "sponsored" section of the app.

OpenAI has written a set of guidelines on how it will show adverts in an effort to quell concerns that a superintelligence with access to highly private information could be used to sell products.

"Ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you," an OpenAI blog post from earlier in January reads. "Answers are optimised based on what's most helpful to you. Ads are always separate and clearly labeled."

OpenAI said it would not share advertising profiles with other companies. "We keep your conversations with ChatGPT private from advertisers, and we never sell your data to advertisers." The company said each user decides how data is used.

"You can turn off personalisation, and you can clear the data used for ads at any time." It added there would always be a way to use ChatGPT without advertising, for example via a paid, ad-free plan.

Meanwhile, Google, the world's largest company by ad revenue, has started to show ads in its AI mode, alongside search, where AI overviews feature.

However, the Gemini app, the main rival to the ChatGPT app, has remained ad-free while Google seeks to catch up with OpenAI in user numbers.

"There are no ads in the Gemini app and there are no current plans to change that," Google's VP of global ads, Dan Taylor, posted on X earlier in January.

While the Gemini app remains free to use and ad-free, anyone who wants to avoid adverts in ChatGPT will have to pay at least US$20 (RM80) per month for a ChatGPT Plus subscription. The new entry-level ChatGPT Go plan, at US$8 (RM32) per month, is not ad-free.

The tests with adverts will initially run in the United States. It is not yet clear when ChatGPT will display advertising in other countries.

With the decision to embrace advertising, OpenAI is making a strategic shift. Company co-founder and chief executive Sam Altman was once firmly opposed, but in recent interviews he struck a more open tone, citing Instagram as an example of advertising that can be useful if done well.

In an effort to cover some of the massive operating costs of running and developing large AI models, OpenAI is seeking new revenue sources, such as by monetising its free users.

Estimates suggest over 90% of ChatGPT users are on the free version, which generates costs for OpenAI but no revenue so far. – dpa/Tribune News Service