OpenAI is chasing advertising dollars. Can publishers cash in, too?

"It's hard to say how final a resort this is without looking at OpenAI's balance sheet, but we do know the company is feeling the heat. After Google released Gemini 3 in the fall-which scored well on leaderboards, market share, and plaudits from the AI community-Altman declared a " code red " at OpenAI to ensure that ChatGPT is best in class. And as impressive as OpenAI's fundraising has been, Google is a $4 trillion company. OpenAI needs all the resources it can get."

"So ChatGPT users are getting ads. It's a risky move, since there are strong indicators that consumers are wary of ads in AI answers. A report from Attest, a consumer research company, found that 41% of consumers trust AI search results more than paid search results, suggesting that AI users like that they don't have to worry about ads in AI summaries, even if their accuracy may sometimes be questionable. Hallucinating is apparently less of an offense than selling out."

"However, ads in AI experiences look increasingly like an inevitability. Consumers don't love ads on TV or streaming either, but they're endemic to the media ecosystem. Google is already serving ads in AI Overviews and AI Mode, and it may someday bring them to Gemini, too, although company executives deny there are any plans to do this. Regardless of what it does with the Gemini chatbot, Google appears determined to weave advertising into many of its AI experiences, which is hardly a shock."

OpenAI plans to introduce ads into ChatGPT as it seeks additional revenue amid intense competition and resource needs. Google released Gemini 3, prompting a " code red " at OpenAI to keep ChatGPT best in class. Fundraising achievements contrast with Google's trillion-dollar scale, increasing pressure for more capital. Consumer research from Attest shows 41% of consumers trust AI search results more than paid search results, indicating wariness of ads in AI summaries. Google already serves ads in AI Overviews and AI Mode and may expand advertising across AI experiences despite user reservations.

Read at Fast Company