OpenAI is introducing ads to ChatGPT in a rolling trial to some select users in the US, as well as launching a new tier to its subscription service.

Some users will begin to see adverts on their ChatGPT conversations – the AI model will use prompts and sessions to influence the adverts it shows to make them more tailored and relevant.

Ads will appear like banners at the bottom of ChatGPT’s replies in chats, and will aim to be relevant to the ongoing conversation: travel ads for conversations about travel, clothing ads for conversations surrounding fashion choices.

OpenAI says that while the ads will use user data, data will not be shared with advertising companies. The ads will be separated from the “organic” answer produced by the chatbot, OpenAI said.

The firm says that its foray into ads is “so more people can benefit from our tools with fewer usage limits.”

The exploration into advertising, and the introduction of a new subscription service which could cost users $8 a month, comes as investor pressure mounts for AI models like ChatGPT to become profitable.

OpenAI has fostered prolific growth since it introduced ChatGPT to the world and brought AI mainstream, but it has yet to make itself truly profitable.

It continues to plough through investor cash while its subscription models struggle to make a dent in its rising compute costs.

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The firm had a loss of about £5.98bn in the first six months of 2025, according to the Financial Times. Of its hundreds of millions of users, only about 5% pay for the service over its three paid tiers.

While it began its journey as a non-profit, OpenAI has increasingly looked to build revenue from its AI models.