OpenAI Says ChatGPT's Random Suggestion to Shop at Target Is Not an Ad

"'ads feature' with 'bazaar content,' 'search ad' and 'search ads carousel'"

"not an ad."

"showing me ADS TO SHOP AT TARGET."

"Shop for home and groceries,"

Code references within ChatGPT's Android app include an 'ads feature' with 'bazaar content,' 'search ad' and 'search ads carousel.' Users have reported in-chat items encouraging app downloads and product shopping, such as a notice reading 'Shop for home and groceries,' prompting users to 'connect Target.' Engineer findings and user sightings have fueled debate over whether ads are being added to ChatGPT, while multiple OpenAI staffers have insisted that the items are 'not an ad.' OpenAI faces heavy spending and pressure to increase revenue, and CEO Sam Altman declared a 'code red' as competitors gain ground. OpenAI has not officially commented.

Read at Futurism