Are free services the most expensive? With the computational costs of AI models remaining high, OpenAI seems to be starting to consider monetizing through advertising. According to The Information website...Get the messageOpenAI is actively evaluating the feasibility of placing ads in ChatGPT, and the format may be very different from the banner ads we are used to.
It's not just advertising, it's "priority recommendation".
Sources familiar with the matter revealed that OpenAI clearly doesn't intend to just put a few stickers next to the chat window, but plans to deeply integrate advertising into the "brain" of AI.
The specific operational method might involve adjusting the weights of the AI model, prioritizing the display of sponsored content when users make queries. The report provides a vivid example: when a user asks, "Which mascara would you recommend?"
ChatGPT replies may prioritize product recommendations from partner brands such as Sephora.
This sounds a bit like an evolution of Google Search's Keyword Advertising (SEM) – from "the first search result" to "the first suggestion from AI."
Worried about annoying people? Advertisements will appear gradually.
To avoid making users feel that ChatGPT has become a "salesperson" and thus lose trust in AI, OpenAI reportedly designed various advertising drafts in an attempt to create a brand-new form of digital advertising.
The report indicates that these ads won't abruptly pop up the moment the user speaks. Instead, they might employ a "gradual display" approach.
For example, AI will only provide sponsored details or links in a secondary step after a user shows interest in a topic and asks for more information. OpenAI's internal goal is to make ads "as inconspicuous as possible" in order to maintain a smooth conversational experience.
Official statement: No tests have been conducted yet, but the future is uncertain.
Interestingly, earlier this month, ChatGPT product manager Nick Turley addressed these rumors.He had publicly respondedThe statement indicated that "no advertising functionality has been tested at present," and pointed out that most of the screenshots circulating online are fake.
However, he added cautiously, "If OpenAI really wants to implement advertising features, the team will take a cautious approach. People trust ChatGPT, and we will design everything we do to respect that trust." This implies that he wasn't ruling out the possibility entirely, but rather seemed to be paving the way for future commercialization.
Analysis: The Inevitable Path to Monetizing AI Search
In my opinion, OpenAI's shift towards an advertising model is almost an inevitable outcome.
While the ChatGPT Plus subscription model has brought stable revenue, the astronomical training and inference costs of next-generation models like GPT-5 make it difficult to sustain the long-term cash burn rate with subscriptions alone. Since ChatGPT is gradually replacing the functions of traditional search engines, adopting Google's profit model—namely, advertising—is the most logical next step.
However, this is a double-edged sword. Users love ChatGPT largely because they believe it provides "objective and neutral" answers. If AI starts to be biased for advertising revenue, prioritizing sponsored products over truly best ones, then "trust," AI's most core asset, will instantly collapse. How OpenAI strikes a balance between "making money" and "honesty" will be the biggest highlight of 2026.
