OpenAI has begun testing advertising within ChatGPT for Free and Go users in the US, marking the first monetization push through advertising for AI chatbots. This test excludes users on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education plans.
Starting today, we’ll begin testing ads on ChatGPT for a limited number of free and Go users in the United States.
Ads do not influence ChatGPT answers. Ads are labeled as sponsored and are visually distinct from responses.
Our goal is to give everyone free access to ChatGPT… pic.twitter.com/S9BV24uJLb
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) February 9, 2026
The move comes after OpenAI rolled out its low-cost ChatGPT Go tier globally in mid-January, positioning ad testing as part of its strategy to fund infrastructure costs and expand access to powerful AI tools.
The company said ads do not affect ChatGPT responses and conversations remain private. Ads are clearly marked as sponsored and visually separated from responses.
OpenAI emphasized that targeting will be based on topics discussed, past ad interactions and memory data, and advertisers will not see user data or chat history.
OpenAI said in a blog post that users can control how ads are personalized, hide certain ads, view ad history, and opt out of personalization and ad data retention altogether.
Ads won’t appear near sensitive topics like health or politics, and are restricted to accounts belonging to users under 18. OpenAI also said that this initial testing will shape a broader rollout to support new ad formats, purchasing models, and business engagement within ChatGPT in the future.
