In a significant update, OpenAI has started experimenting with ads for users on its Free and Go subscription tiers across the US.
The latest Go plan, which was released globally in mid-January, is available for $8 per month, while subscribers having the higher-tier paid plans, will be able to use an ads-free model.
While addressing user’s concerns regarding whether ads will affect their experience or not, ChatGPT stated in a blog post, “Ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you, and we keep your conversations with ChatGPT private from advertisers. Our goal is for ads to support broader access to more powerful ChatGPT features while maintaining the trust people place in ChatGPT for important and personal tasks.”
Recently, OpenAI’s major competitor Anthropic mocked the idea of ads in chatbot responses via Super Bowl commercials, prompting a greater response from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who criticized the campaign as misleading, and called Anthropic an “authoritarian company.”
Last year, the ChatGPT manufacturer received massive criticism regarding the idea of ads in AI responses after experimenting with app suggestions that looked like unwanted ads.
Critics fear that ads may impact the leading AI-powered chatbot’s performance. OpenAI denied the announcement, saying that ads will be optimized based on “what’s most helpful to you.”
OpenAI stated ads may be tailored using general conversation topics, past interactions, and engagement patterns; however, advertisers will only get aggregated performance data like views and clicks.
Users will be able to easily personalise it, manage ad settings, share feedback, view why they were shown an ad, and clear interaction history.
However, the company mentioned that ads will only appear for users above 18.
