It seems that the days of completely free use of the most famous chatbot in the world are slowly coming to an end. Although ChatGPT has been an ad-free oasis since its launch in November 2022, new evidence suggests that OpenAI is preparing to open its doors to advertisers. Until now, users have enjoyed the same interface, but financial pressures and the huge costs of maintaining artificial intelligence systems will probably soon change the way we interact with this tool.
The discovery that stirred the technology community comes from developer Tibor Blaho, who found clear indications in the beta version of the application that ads are being prepared for widespread use.
What’s hidden in the beta version
Analyzing the code of the Android app for ChatGPT (version 1.2025.329 beta), Blaho found lines that directly mention advertising. Specifically, the code contains references to “ads feature”, “search ad”, “search ads carousel” and the intriguing term “bazaar content”. Although this version is not yet available to the general public, the presence of these terms suggests that the technical infrastructure for displaying advertisements is larger. in the implementation phase.
Experts speculate that ads could appear within integrated searches, similar to what Google does, or as product recommendations when a user is looking for buying advice. This revelation comes after reports that OpenAI is considering introducing ads based on chatbot memory or conversation history, which also raises privacy issues.
Altman’s attitude is changing
The CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, has long been skeptical of the idea of introducing advertisements into their most popular product. During an event at Harvard Business School last year, Altman expressed unease about the merging of ads and artificial intelligence.
The combination of ads and AI is uniquely disturbing to me. It is the last refuge for us as a business model, but I am not completely against them – Altman said then, they still leave the door open for future changes.
Over time, his attitude became milder. In June, in his company’s podcast, he admitted that all of his ads on some platforms, such as Instagram, are open to experimentation. Č it seems that this experimentation has now passed from theory to practice.
Costs dictate changes
The main reason for this turnaround lies in finances. Although ChatGPT generates huge subscription revenues, they are not enough to cover the astronomical costs. According to estimates, OpenAI expects around €12.3 billion in sales revenue in 2025, but this must be put in the context of costs that amount to a staggering €20.8 billion. Most of that money goes to computing chips, data centers, and the digital infrastructure needed to train and run AI models.
Banking giant HSBC predicts that OpenAI will not be profitable even by 2030 if it relies only on existing subscription models. Contracts with Microsoft and Amazon for renting cloud infrastructure are measured in hundreds of billions of euros, so the introduction of a new source of income through advertising is a logical, albeit unpopular, business move for users.
How will it look in practice?
It is not yet completely clear whether the ads will be reserved only for users of the free version or if they will affect subscribers as well. There have been anecdotal reports from users, such as Yuchen Jin of Hyperbolic Labs, who posted on Xu that he was shown an ad for Peloton unatoč by paying a ChatGPT Pro subscription. Although it is not clear whether the wordč on trial or error, it has caused concern among premium users.
Since AI has access to vast amounts of data about users’ interests and needs through their conversations, the potential for highly personalized ads is enormous. Such targeting could be extremely profitable for OpenAI, but could erode the trust of users who are used to neutral responses.
It remains to be seen if the ads will be subtly integrated as recommendations or if they will interrupt the flow of conversation, but one thing is for sure – free driving without ads will soon become a thing of the past.