In a move that could reshape the digital advertising landscape, OpenAI has started rolling out ads within ChatGPT, its widely used AI-powered chatbot, marking a pivotal shift for both users and the broader tech industry. The decision, announced in early February 2026, signals a new era where artificial intelligence platforms not only answer questions but also become vehicles for targeted advertising—potentially transforming how brands, publishers, and users interact online.
According to executive search firm Taligence, January 2026 saw a steady pace of chief marketing officer appointments across major companies, reflecting a broader trend of businesses ramping up their AI marketing capabilities. Among the voices shaping this conversation is Asad Awan, OpenAI’s ads and monetization lead, who recently discussed the company’s evolving approach to advertising on OpenAI’s official podcast with host Andrew Mayne.
OpenAI confirmed in a blog post that it has begun testing ads for logged-in users on its Free and Go plans in the United States. Paid tiers—including Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education—remain ad-free for now. As reported by Mashable, the company stated, “Our focus with this test is learning. We’re paying close attention to feedback so we can make sure ads feel useful and fit naturally into the ChatGPT experience before expanding.”
For users accustomed to an ad-free chatbot since ChatGPT’s 2022 debut, the introduction of sponsored content is a significant change. OpenAI’s approach, however, is designed to be as transparent and unobtrusive as possible. Ads appear outside of the chatbot’s responses and are clearly labeled as sponsored content. OpenAI has emphasized that ads do not influence how ChatGPT answers questions, and that user conversations are not shared with advertisers. Instead, ads are selected based on broad conversation topics and user interactions with ads, with strict safeguards in place to prevent sponsored content from appearing alongside sensitive subjects such as health, mental health, or politics.
Users on the Free tier are given a choice: they can opt out of seeing ads, but doing so comes with a trade-off—fewer daily free messages. Alternatively, users can upgrade to Plus or Pro plans to enjoy an ad-free experience. For those who do consent to ads, OpenAI offers additional privacy controls: users can opt out of ad personalization, prevent ChatGPT from using past AI chats to tailor ads, and even delete all ad history and data compiled by the company. According to Mashable, at the time of publication, the ad rollout was still a limited test, with some users unable to trigger any sponsored content during regular use.
This cautious, user-focused rollout comes after months of speculation and debate. Screenshots circulating online in late 2025 appeared to show promotional content embedded in ChatGPT responses, fueling user confusion and concern. OpenAI dismissed these incidents as poorly timed “suggestions,” but the distinction did little to quell anxieties about the platform’s future direction. As Mashable reported earlier this year, OpenAI had been quietly experimenting with ad formats internally, signaling that monetization would eventually be necessary to support the platform’s immense infrastructure costs.
OpenAI’s transparency and user controls may help ease the transition, but the move has not gone unnoticed by competitors. Anthropic, a major rival in the AI space, took a direct jab at OpenAI’s new model during Super Bowl LX. In a widely discussed ad campaign, Anthropic promoted its chatbot, Claude, by staging scenarios where helpful conversations suddenly pivot into awkward sales pitches, punctuated by the tagline, “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.” The message was clear: Anthropic is betting that some users will prefer an ad-free conversational experience, even as the rest of the industry moves toward monetization.
Beyond the immediate user experience, OpenAI’s advertising experiment represents a structural reset for digital advertising. As AdExchanger observed, traditional digital ads have long relied on proxies for user intent—demographics, browsing behavior, and fragmented signals inferred from clicks and cookies. ChatGPT, by contrast, operates in a prompt-driven environment where user intent is expressed directly through conversation. Instead of guessing what someone might want based on past behavior, the platform can respond in real time to what a user is actually trying to accomplish.
This shift has profound implications for both brands and publishers. For brands, it opens a new lever beyond impressions, allowing them to reach users at the very moment they articulate a need or goal. Imagine, for instance, a user asking about flu symptoms. Rather than serving a generic banner ad, ChatGPT could dynamically assemble a curated “flu kit”—cough syrup, pain relievers, tissues, and more—sourced from a retailer like CVS or Walgreens. This isn’t just advertising; it’s a new form of guided commerce, tailored to individual conversations.
For publishers, the rise of conversational AI presents both risks and opportunities. AI-generated answers are already reducing website referral traffic, accelerating the so-called “zero-click” dynamic where users consume information without ever visiting the source. This has triggered lawsuits, licensing negotiations, and urgent debates about the future economics of journalism. Yet, as AdExchanger points out, the introduction of advertising into platforms like ChatGPT could offer publishers a new way to monetize their content. Instead of competing for clicks, publishers might sponsor relevant explainers, calculators, or analyses that are surfaced within AI conversations—provided that attribution and control over distribution are clearly defined.
Still, the line between helpful guidance and intrusive advertising remains delicate. OpenAI has pledged that ads will be “clearly distinguishable from the conversation,” aiming to maintain transparency and trust. But as ad formats evolve and become more native to the conversational experience, the distinction could blur. Users will expect not just clarity about what is sponsored, but also assurance that commercial content genuinely enhances their understanding rather than undermining it. As AdExchanger notes, “transparency stops being a compliance exercise; it becomes a trust contract.”
Meanwhile, the broader industry is watching closely. Microsoft, which has been beefing up its AI marketing team, and design platform Canva, which recently hired its first B2B chief marketer, are among the companies positioning themselves to capitalize on this new wave of AI-driven advertising. The question is no longer whether OpenAI can build an ad business, but whether the entire advertising ecosystem is ready for a world where conversation—not clicks, feeds, or queries—becomes the most valuable form of digital inventory.
Adding another layer of complexity, legal battles are simmering beneath the surface. In April 2026, Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging copyright infringement in the training and operation of its AI systems. This underscores the contentious and rapidly evolving nature of the AI and publishing landscape, where questions of data ownership, attribution, and compensation are far from settled.
As OpenAI’s ad experiment unfolds, all eyes are on how users, brands, and publishers will adapt to this new model. The outcome could redefine not just how we interact with AI, but how we experience the internet itself—one conversation at a time.