- OpenAI began testing ads within ChatGPT, upsetting many users including paid subscribers
- Users reported seeing ads from brands like Target during unrelated chatbot conversations
- OpenAI said these were app integrations, not ads, aiming to enhance user experience
OpenAI is facing significant user backlash after it quietly began testing advertisements within its popular artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, ChatGPT. The move, which left users unhappy, also affected those subscribed to the $200-per-month Pro tier, who quickly expressed their frustration on social media platforms.
"I'm in ChatGPT (paid Plus subscription), asking about Windows BitLocker, and it's F-ing showing me ads to shop at Target. Yeah, screw this. Lose all your users," a user named Benjamin De Kraker posted on X (formerly Twitter) alongside a screenshot of the advertisement.
As the post went viral, garnering over 463,000 views, OpenAI's Chief Research Officer, Mark Chen, commented that the team was looking into the matter. Meanwhile, Daniel McAuley, the data lead for the ChatGPT ecosystem, claimed that the users weren't being targeted with ads, albeit apps from 'pilot partners'.
"Hey Benjamin, this is not an ad. We've launched apps from some of our pilot partners since devday, including Target, and have been working to make the discovery mechanism for apps more organic inside ChatGPT," said McAuley, adding: "Our goal is that apps augment the ux when relevant to a conversation, and we're still working on it. anyone can build apps using the apps sdk, and we plan to open submissions and the app directory soon."
However, McAuley's statement did not go down well with social media users, who highlighted that brands injecting themselves into any unrelated conversation was a textbook definition of an ad.
"Daniel, when brands inject themselves into an unrelated chat and encourage the user to go shopping at their store, that's an ad. The more you pretend this isn't an ad because you guys gave it a different name, the less users like or trust you," said De Kraker.
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OpenAI Leak
The backlash from users comes in the backdrop of a leak suggesting that ads were coming to the AI chatbot. Computer engineer Tibor Blaho first spotted the code last month, highlighting that OpenAI was testing ads and shopping features within a beta version of the ChatGPT Android app.
“ChatGPT Android app 1.2025.329 beta includes new references to an ‘ads feature' with ‘bazaar content', ‘search ad' and ‘search ads carousel',” Blaho wrote on X.
ChatGPT has been free of ads since it launched in November 2022, with chief executive Sam Altman once describing them as a “last resort”.
While there hasn't been a full announcement from OpenAI yet, the company may need to backtrack if it wants to keep its most loyal user base intact as competitors like Gemini and Grok extend their lead at the top.
