--- title: "It Sounds an Awful Lot Like OpenAI Is Adding Ads to ChatGPT" description: "Recent hiring activity and wishy-washy statements make it seem like OpenAI is planning to introduce ads into ChatGPT." date: "2024-12-02" modified: "2024-12-02" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/openai-weighs-ads-chatgpt" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "advertising" - "chatgpt" - "OpenAI" - "the digest" --- # It Sounds an Awful Lot Like OpenAI Is Adding Ads to ChatGPT ![Recent hiring activity and wishy-washy statements make it seem like OpenAI is planning to introduce ads into ChatGPT.]() *TURIN, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 25: Sam Altman Co-founder and CEO of OpenAI speaks during the Italian Tech Week 2024 at OGR Officine Grandi Riparazioni on September 25, 2024 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Stefano Guidi/Getty Images) \Image: Stefano Guidi/Getty Images\* ## Ad Age They're not copping to much yet, but recent hiring activity and wishy-washy statements make it seem an awful lot like OpenAI is planning to introduce ads into its suite of products like ChatGPT. As the [*Financial Times* reports](), the company is hiring ad talent away from its big tech rivals like Google and Meta. And ad-oriented job listings at the company that the *FT* spotted on LinkedIn offer a similar sense. So far, even the free versions of OpenAI's products have remained ad-free. Of course, the company is currently swimming in money — in the two years since its flagship chatbot dropped, [OpenAI's valuation skyrocketed to $157 billion]() — but amid reports of [shrinking traffic]() and the [extremely expensive nature]() of AI infrastructure, it may well be starting to feel the squeeze. If it *did* start to put ads into ChatGPT, the formerly nonprofit OpenAI would be crossing a Rubicon of sleaziness; the obvious integration would be to jump on users asking things like "best air fryer" and then pointing them toward companies paying OpenAI for publicity, undermining the entire premise of an intelligent and objective AI-powered assistant. ## DraperGPT In an interview with the *FT*, chief financial officer Sarah Friar candidly said the company had been weighing an ads model, though she declined to say when or where such ads would be released besides saying the company would be "thoughtful about when and where we implement them." A former mover and shaker for the likes of Nextdoor and Salesforce, Friar went on to point out that she and OpenAI chief product officer Kevin Weil — who previously helmed ad-supported projects at Instagram and Twitter — have a ton of ad experience. "The good news with Kevin Weil at the wheel with product is that he came from Instagram," she told the outlet. "He knows how this works." Following the interview, however, Friar backtracked with an unconvincing reversal. "Our current business is experiencing rapid growth and we see significant opportunities within our existing business model," she told the *FT*. "While we’re open to exploring other revenue streams in the future, we have no active plans to pursue advertising." As of now, of course, there's no confirmation of anything except internal talks about introducing ads into OpenAI products. Reading between the lines, however, it seems like the firm doing a bit more than brainstorming — and that after-interview reversal makes the whole thing seem all the more likely to happen. **More on OpenAI's interiority:** [*OpenAI Implores Judge Not to Expose Communications by Its Top Researchers*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()