An example of what ads might look like in ChatGPT (OpenAI)

OpenAI set to start rolling out ads to free and ChatGPT Go users

OpenAI says user conversations will be kept private from advertisers, and answers will not be influenced by ads.

1/16/26 1:58PM

It was bound to happen at some point. OpenAI has finally disclosed the details of how it plans to roll out ads for users of ChatGPT.

The company announced today in a blog post that in the coming weeks, ads will start rolling out to users of the $8-per-month ChatGPT Go product and the free tier of the chatbot. OpenAI listed some guiding principles that will steer its approach to ads:

ChatGPT will not offer answers that are influenced by ads, but will always optimize answers based on “what’s most helpful to you,” and the ads will be clearly labeled and separate from the chat.
ChatGPT conversations will be kept private and not shared with advertisers, and OpenAI says it will “never sell your data to advertisers.”
ChatGPT users can turn off personalization (which is used for ad targeting) and can clear this data at any time. The company also pledged to always offer a paid ad-free tier of the product.

OpenAI also said that the company does not “optimize for time spent in ChatGPT,” something that other social media apps like TikTok and Meta’s Instagram do.

Ads will not be shown to minors, and chats with sensitive topics like health, mental health, or politics will not display ads, according to the blog post. Plus, Pro and Enterprise subscriptions will not show ads.

OAI Ad Blog Inline-AdMock1 16x9 — An example of how a sponsored ad might appear in ChatGPT (OpenAI)

OpenAI has a lot riding on rolling out a responsible approach to ads, as it seeks to shore up its revenues to keep up with its ambitious growth. Turning ads on for its hundreds of millions of free users would certainly generate some serious additional revenue, which it needs to fulfill its $1 trillion worth of deals.

But we know that users share some pretty sensitive, personal information in their chats, and the company needs to establish trust with its users. Pressure to monetize chats at the expense of user trust could send users to competing chat platforms.

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After tussle with Pentagon, Anthropic’s $60 billion worth of recent investments might be at risk

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Making it even more shocking is the fact that Anthropic appeared to be on track to have one of the largest and most anticipated tech IPOs in American history.

Axios’ Dan Primack writes that the $60 billion in venture capital Anthropic just raised last month could very well be at risk. Primack argues that investors may get cold feet now that the company has run afoul of the Trump administration, and it faces significant uncertainty as the industry waits to see what official acts follow Hegseth’s words.

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Google may not just power Apple’s Siri — it could host it, too

Apple has asked Google to look into running the upcoming AI Siri on its servers, The Information reports, following a previous agreement for Google’s Gemini model to underpin the new Siri in the first place.

Apple’s reliance on third parties for AI and cloud computing has helped it keep spending lower than its peers. But it also deepens the company’s dependence on rivals for critical AI infrastructure. Apple already relies heavily on Google and Amazon for cloud services. Hosting Siri on Google’s servers would expand that relationship.

Apple has invested in its own AI cloud system, Private Cloud Compute, meant to run sensitive queries on Apple-designed servers. But according to The Information, only about 10% of that capacity is in use, potentially signaling another AI execution problem for Apple.

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The bad news: Europe remains a small market for Tesla, so stabilization there isn’t the boon it would be in bigger markets like the US and China, where its vehicle sales continue to struggle.

For what it’s worth, Tesla has been de-emphasizing vehicle sales as it pivots its ambitions to AI and autonomy.

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