--- title: "OpenAI Preparing to Stuff Ads Into ChatGPT, According to Beta Code in App" description: "Lines of code in an experimental build of OpenAI's ChatGPT app references a number of advertising related features." date: "2025-12-01" modified: "2025-12-01" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/openai-stuff-ads-into-chatgpt" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" --- # OpenAI Preparing to Stuff Ads Into ChatGPT, According to Beta Code in App ![Lines of code in an experimental build of OpenAI's ChatGPT app references a number of advertising related features.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images* Brace yourselves, for your cozy little conversations with OpenAI's ChatGPT are about to be stuffed with ads. At least, that's the findings of a software engineer who dug through the code of an experimental build of the chatbot's app. The engineer, Tibor Blaho, [flagged]() roughly a dozen lines of code in the latest beta release of the ChatGPT app for Android, 1.2025.329, labelled "feature ads," with strings referencing commercial-sounding stuff like "search ad," "search ads carousel," and "bazaar content." It's yet another sign that OpenAI is preparing to cash in on its hundreds of millions of users by showing them ads, amid growing pressure on the company to demonstrate it can make a profit while its spending — and AI capital expenditures at large — continue to balloon past what subscriptions can support. OpenAI leadership has played coy when asked about ads. Last December, chief financial officer Sarah Friar [told the *Financial Times*]() that the company, now valued at around half a trillion dollars, was exploring an ad model, but then backtracked by stating there were "no active plans to pursue advertising." CEO Sam Altman has sent similarly [mixed messages](). He once called the idea of integrating ads into ChatGPT "unsettling" and described them as a "last resort." But this year, Altman said he wasn't "totally against" advertising, that it was something he [expected]() to "try at some point," and [praised]() Instagram's ad model (which, it's worth noting, has attracted an [immense amount]() of [criticism]() from non-CEOs.) The warning signs have been there, however, regardless of the execs' messaging. Amid Friar's waffling on the issue, for instance, the [*Financial Times* reported]() that OpenAI was [poaching top ad talent]() from its rivals like Google and Meta, while posting ad-related job listings on LinkedIn. And last month, *The Information* [reported]() that OpenAI was considering showing individually-tailored ads based on ChatGPT's memory of user interactions. The reporting noted that the AI startup had imported hundreds of ex-employees from Meta, an advertising juggernaut; in 2023, 98 percent of Meta's over $130 billion revenue [came from ads](). If ads do come to OpenAI's products, the change will be a controversial one. ChatGPT has been completely ad free since its launch three years ago, becoming part of its appeal as an alternative to ad-stuffed search engines like Google. Moreover, the intrusion of ads could dispel some of the human-like familiarity that users have fostered with the chatbot. It will also raise **a host of** ethical concerns. Users tend to share much more intimate details with a chatbot than they do a search bar, and the AI's ability to act like a friend and a confidante — traits that are themselves controversial amid more and more accounts of [so-called "AI psychosis]()" — could be repurposed for sleazy salesmanship. Chatbots, or at least the way the industry designs them, are inherently addictive and engaging; a Google search is not. In any case, OpenAI wouldn't be alone in going down this route. Google has been [showing sponsored content]() in its infamously wonky AI Overviews for over a year. Perplexity has been [experimenting with ads]() since last year, too, as has the Google-backed AI companion platform Chai. **More on AI:** [*Anthropic Researchers Startled When an AI Model Turned Evil and Told a User to Drink Bleach*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()