Tech giants such as Google and Meta, along with AI-focused companies like OpenAI and Perplexity, are pouring billions of dollars into artificial intelligence. But despite spending a ton of money, AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini are struggling to turn a profit. Now, a new report suggests that OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is planning to show advertisements in conversations with the AI chatbot.
Citing a person familiar with the matter, the publication said some employees are working on tweaking AI models “to prioritize sponsored information in ChatGPT responses when users ask relevant queries.”
For example, ChatGPT users may see a sponsored ad for a beauty product when they are searching for mascara recommendations. The report goes on to say that in recent weeks, OpenAI employees have been preparing mockups showing various ways they can show ads inside ChatGPT.
OpenAI has reportedly tested several ad mockups showing sponsored information in a sidebar, and employees are also working on a disclosure saying that the results would show sponsored results. Employees at OpenAI are also trying to find ways to show ads without “turning off users”, who might have a problem with their chats filled with content or ads based on their personal conversations.
Since its launch in 2022, ChatGPT has grown rapidly and now has more than 900 million active weekly users, with a target to push the active user base to 2.6 billion by 2030. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has publicly downplayed OpenAI’s ambition to show ads in its products, but in the last year, the publication claims it has been hiring digital advertising veterans and working on new shopping features that could host retail ads.
The Altman-led company already has a ton of information thanks to detailed chats with ChatGPT, and could be a goldmine for advertisers looking to sell more. OpenAI’s move into the advertising business would shake up the business, which is currently dominated by Amazon, Google and Meta and account for almost 60 per cent of the digital ad market (minus China).
However, it is still unclear if and when ChatGPT users will see ads, so it might take a while before OpenAI decides to serve ads in its products.
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