ChatGPT Reportedly May Soon Show You Ads in the App

OpenAI is reportedly showing ads inside the ChatGPT app, as some users have started noticing commercial content appearing within the interface. Several users have shared screenshots that appear to show promotional blocks embedded in their ChatGPT conversations, indicating that the company may be testing an ad-supported experience.

Hints of this shift surfaced earlier, when engineer Tibor Blaho examined the ChatGPT Android app. In a post, Blaho said the ChatGPT Android app 1.2025.329 beta contains new references to an "ads feature" featuring terms like "bazaar content", "search ad" and "search ads carousel", which point to several possible advertising formats.

One user said he was simply chatting with ChatGPT about Elon on Nikhil's podcast when an ad suddenly appeared, promoting, "Find a fitness class. Connect Peloton." The user also added that OpenAI should "at least match the ad to the topic next time."

Sam Altman's stance and future experiments with ChatGPT ads

During a talk at Harvard Business School, Sam Altman described combining adverts and AI as "uniquely unsettling" and said the company would treat advertising as a "last resort business model." Yet Altman also indicated that OpenAI might still use ads if that choice became necessary for the service.

Altman later said on the OpenAI podcast that the company remains willing to experiment with adverts, signalling a cautious but open approach. The beta Android code does not specify formats or launch dates, though it suggests ChatGPT ads may first target free users as OpenAI searches for ways to support a no-cost option.

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