Ads in ChatGPT: OpenAI's move ahead of the IPO

OpenAI, the developer of the popular chatbot ChatGPT, has begun displaying ads to users in India, one of its largest and most active markets. The ads will be shown to users on the free plan and the low-cost "Go" plan, which costs about 4 dollars a month. The move, already active in 38 countries including the USA, Japan, and European nations, is intended to increase the company's revenue ahead of its planned IPO in 2027.

Justifying a valuation of 852 billion dollars

The company is facing heavy pressure to justify its massive market valuation, estimated at 852 billion dollars, ahead of the IPO. Unlike its competitor Anthropic, which generates a large portion of its revenue from business clients, OpenAI is particularly popular among private consumers. Experts explain that an advertising model is the most effective way to generate revenue from such a broad user base and cover the high computing costs of the service.

The global digital advertising market turns over hundreds of billions of dollars annually, and OpenAI aims to take a share of it to reduce its losses. The company clarified that ads on the service will be clearly marked, visually separated, and displayed below the chatbot's responses. The company further emphasized that the independence of the artificial intelligence's responses is a non-negotiable principle, and they will not be influenced by advertisers.

Competitors use the opportunity to attack

The decision to integrate ads has drawn criticism from competitor Anthropic, which stated that its chatbot, Claude, will remain completely free of ads. Anthropic promised that users will not see sponsored links, and responses will not be influenced by commercial partnerships. At the same time, experts point out that OpenAI is also being pressured by Google, which dominates the consumer market and holds a strong cash flow that allows it to fund its developments.

At this stage, the company has launched a managed advertising system in India, and will soon allow advertisers to purchase ad space independently. The company emphasized that it will not show ads to users under the age of 18, and stated that its goal is to learn from users and advertisers while maintaining the user experience that has made the service so popular worldwide.