"While there are plenty of reasons to upgrade to a pay for a ChatGPT subscription, the free version of ChatGPT, as we know it, might be coming to an end soon. According to code spotted in a recent beta build of the ChatGPT app, OpenAI appears to be preparing to add advertising into the chatbot's interface. The first hint came from Tibor Blaho on X, who spotted a beta version of ChatGPT's Android app packed with references to ads."
"OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has talked before about the possibility of adding ads to ChatGPT, but he hasn't taken a firm position. At a Harvard Business School event in May 2024, Altman described combining ads and AI as "uniquely unsettling to me" and called it a "last resort for us as a business model," though he also said he's "not totally against them." In June 2025, Altman made it clear on the first episode of the OpenAI podcast that the company isn't opposed to adding ads, but they were still figuring out exactly how it would work."
Beta code from a ChatGPT Android build references an "ads feature," "search ad," and "bazaar content," indicating planned ad integration into the chatbot UI. A security researcher spotted the beta build labeled 1.2025.329 containing those references. Company leadership has wavered on advertising, with public statements calling ads "uniquely unsettling" while also acknowledging openness to them. OpenAI reportedly explored ad infrastructure tied to memory or user chats. The addition of ads would alter the free-user experience and prompt heightened privacy and personalization concerns as ads could be influenced by stored user data.
Read at MUO
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