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by Florian Bodoky
No more ad-free AI chats: ChatGPT now displays adverts in the USA
10.2.2026
Translation: machine translated
OpenAI is ending the era of ad-free AI conversations and is starting to display adverts directly in ChatGPT in the USA. In addition to free users, subscribers to the new entry-level ChatGPT Go tariffs are also affected.
OpenAI is getting serious: ChatGPT users in the USA will now see adverts. The company had already announced the measure for its chatbot in mid-January. The details can now be read in a new blog post. OpenAI is initially launching a test phase in which it will evaluate how adverts should be delivered. Users in Europe will almost certainly also be confronted with adverts sooner or later, provided there are no data protection regulations to prevent this.
Advertisements are displayed below the chatbot response and are labelled «Sponsored». Not all users see adverts: It is possible to buy your way out by paying an expensive plan. If you don't want to do this, you can also purchase an ad-free version of ChatGPT with a limited number of requests. There are also a number of other ways to avoid adverts. More on this below.
Source: OpenAI
ChatGPT is the most popular chatbot with 700 million weekly users worldwide. It makes sense for OpenAI to monetise its broad user base. OpenAI justifies the introduction of advertising with the high costs of providing the infrastructure. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, had long rejected adverts and only considered them as a last resort. That's very telling.
Who gets to see the adverts
Not only users of the free ChatGPT version see the adverts, but also those who pay eight US dollars a month for the service's cheapest premium subscription, ChatGPT Go. Go was only introduced in January 2026. The significantly more expensive Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise tariffs remain ad-free. However, they cost at least 20 US dollars per month. OpenAI has not yet provided any information on the number of accesses for the limited ad-free version.
People under the age of 18 will generally not see any adverts. An interesting sentence on the ChatGPT help page could provide a loophole for ad-free use in this context: «Adverts will not appear to logged-in users who tell us - or who we assume - are under 18».
Since ChatGPT cannot verify the age of users who are not logged in, no adverts will appear there. Temporary chats, generated images and chats in OpenAI's own browser «ChatGPT Atlas» also remain ad-free.
Content of the adverts and data protection
OpenAI promises that adverts will not influence responses. The adverts are to be selected according to thematic relevance. Past chat histories and previous interaction with adverts can also be used for this purpose. Adverts can be hidden, for example. Fewer similar adverts could then appear.
According to OpenAI, the display of adverts can also be controlled using settings options: The entire ad history and the collected interest data can be deleted. The display of personalised ads and the inclusion of chat history can also be completely deactivated.
The ad providers should not receive any personal data or chat excerpts. According to OpenAI, they only receive reports on impressions and user clicks.
«Products and services you'll love»
No user jumps for joy when they see an advert. Especially not when users remain suspicious of the chatbot's promise of independence. To make the new measure more palatable, OpenAI talks about «long-term added value» for users.
The company refers to the fact that ChatGPT is often used for research purposes. Adverts for matching products and services, «which they will love», are presented by OpenAI as helpful. The conversation-based interface - i.e. the conversation with the chatbot including the refinement of queries - can also enable adverts that «naturally match what the user wants to achieve.»
In keeping with this, Anthropic, the AI company behind the chatbot Claude, placed four short ironic videos as a sideswipe during the extremely popular Super Bowl in the USA. Anthropic wants to emphasise that Claude remains ad-free - and show how «naturally» advertising could feel in chatbot conversations. Namely, not at all.
Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI employees. They had left OpenAI in 2019 when the company turned its back on its credible non-profit claims and entered into a cooperation agreement with Microsoft.
Header image: Shutterstock/Daniel Chetroni
Feels just as comfortable in front of a gaming PC as she does in a hammock in the garden. Likes the Roman Empire, container ships and science fiction books. Focuses mostly on unearthing news stories about IT and smart products.
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