ChatGPT to test labeled ads for free users

17 Jan 2026 ChatGPT will soon start showing sponsored products or services that are relevant to your conversation, OpenAI announced — the company plans to test “clearly labeled” ads in the coming weeks for logged-in US users who use the free app or the ChatGPT Go tier. The ads will appear in a separate area at the bottom of chats, and OpenAI says advertisers won’t influence the bot’s answers; responses will remain “optimized based on what’s most helpful to you.” OpenAI also promises to “keep your conversations with ChatGPT private from advertisers” and that it will “never sell your data” to them. Paid tiers (ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Enterprise) won’t show ads, but the $8/month ChatGPT Go plan — expanding to the US — will. Users can turn off personalization, clear the ad data the company uses, dismiss ads, and give feedback. OpenAI says people under 18 (or those it predicts are under 18) won’t see ads, and ads won’t be shown near “sensitive or regulated topics” like health, mental health, or politics. OpenAI has hinted at ad integrations before — ChatGPT head Nick Turley called any ad plan “very thoughtful and tasteful” — and the company briefly experimented with app promotions in December before rolling back changes after user pushback. OpenAI says ads let it offer more access with fewer usage limits. Source