OpenAI has announced it will begin testing a new visual advertising format in its ChatGPT chatbot, with ads set to appear directly alongside image generation results, according to infohub.kz.
TechCrunch reports that the initial phase will launch in late October in the United States and will affect users on the free Free tier and the budget ChatGPT Go plan. Subscribers to the paid Plus and Pro tiers, as well as corporate accounts, will not be affected by the change.
Company representatives stress that the ad units will be clearly labeled and placed separately from the generated images themselves. According to them, this will have no effect on either the neural network's responses or the quality of the art content it produces. In addition, ads will not appear in conversations on sensitive topics such as health or politics.
In the first phase, a limited group of advertisers offering consumer goods and services has been brought into the test.
To ensure transparency and safety, OpenAI is bringing in third-party partners, including DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science, as well as the analytics services Triple Whale and WorkMagic.
The move reflects the company's drive to monetize the service's audience of 1.2 billion weekly users and to offset the high cost of computing power.