US-based artificial intelligence company OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT Ads to India, one of its largest markets, as it looks to make more money from its popular chatbot ahead of a planned initial public offering. The ads will be shown to logged-in adults on the Free and Go tiers, with the Go plan priced at Rs 399 per month in India. Sponsored products or services will appear at the bottom of ChatGPT responses and will be clearly labelled and kept visually separate from the chatbot's answers. Users on paid Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education plans will continue to get an ad-free service.
The company said that users' chats, chat history, memories, or personal details are inaccessible to advertisers and that it does not sell user data to advertisers. Advertisers will instead receive aggregate campaign-performance information, such as impressions and clicks.
OpenAI also said ads will not be shown to accounts where the user has indicated they are under 18, or where the company determines that the user is a minor. Ads will also not appear alongside sensitive or regulated topics such as health, mental health, or politics.
The AI company said over 50 brands were expected to go live with ads this week. The firm also plans to offer self-serve access to ChatGPT Ads Manager in India from September 4, and businesses could sign up for daily budgets starting at Rs 725.
ChatGPT crossed the 1 billion weekly global user mark earlier this month and India remains its second-largest market with over 100 million weekly users across students, developers, educators, and enterprises as of February 2026.
OpenAI first announced plans to start testing ads within ChatGPT in January 2026, to diversify its revenue streams and drive expansion.
The ad pilot began in the United States in February, crossed the $100 million annualised revenue mark within six weeks of launch and then expanded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, and South Korea.
OpenAI launched ChatGPT Ads across 31 European countries last week, including Germany, France, Spain, and Italy.
(With inputs from agencies)
