Is ChatGPT getting ads?

Nothing is official yet, but rumors have started to swirl that ChatGPT users may have to deal with advertisements in the future. The information comes from computer engineer Tibor Blaho, who posted a code leak on X. The code shows an Android beta app with references to an “ads feature,” as well as “search ad” and “search ads carousel.”

It’s not entirely surprising that OpenAI might be considering bringing advertisements to its product. ChatGPT has become wildly popular, but it still isn’t making the company money, because the cost of running it exceeds the company’s profits, especially with a free user tier.

Ads should allow the company to maintain a free tier while keeping up with operating costs. That comes at the expense of the user experience though, as it could turn a streamlined chat experience into something more like using an Internet search tool. There are also concerns about privacy, as the advertisements could leverage your chat history to show you personalized ads.