OpenAI's Sam Altman used to hate ads. Now he's selling them.

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has undergone a significant shift in his perspective on advertising. Once dismissive of ads, he is now leading the charge to introduce them to OpenAI's platforms. Starting Monday, some users of ChatGPT in the United States will begin seeing advertisements. This initiative targets both free users and those subscribed to the new ChatGPT Go plan, which costs $8 per month and was launched just last month. OpenAI plans to personalize the ads displayed based on the ongoing conversation within ChatGPT, as well as previous interactions and queries. Additionally, the system will take into account whether users have interacted with or hidden past ads. However, OpenAI has stated that it will not currently utilize external user data for ad targeting purposes. Given the industry trends where major ad platforms leverage such data, it remains to be seen whether OpenAI will follow suit in the future. The rollout of ads in ChatGPT isn’t entirely unexpected. OpenAI has hinted at this direction for several months, and the recent announcement stirred discussions, particularly between OpenAI and its competitor Anthropic. Anthropic even responded with a playful Super Bowl ad that highlighted potential trust concerns regarding how ads may affect user experience in conjunction with organic results. As OpenAI moves forward with this advertising strategy, it will be interesting to observe user reactions and the overall effectiveness of these ads.