OpenAI may soon launch advertising in ChatGPT: new code elements were found in the beta version of the service’s Android application that directly indicate the preparation of an advertising model for the chatbot.
OpenAI may soon launch advertising in ChatGPT: new code elements were found in the beta version of the service’s Android application that directly indicate the preparation of an advertising model for the chatbot.
This is reported by Engadget with reference to Austrian engineer Tibor Blaho, who analyzed version 1.2025.329 of the program. According to him, it contains references to «ads feature», «search ad» and «bazaar content». The release itself is not yet available to a wide range of users, but the code structure already hints at separate modules responsible for displaying advertising.
Against this backdrop, a recent report by The Information that OpenAI is considering advertising that would take into account chat history or data stored in the ChatGPT memory seems logical. In this way, the company could try to combine contextual AI suggestions with classic targeting, which raises additional questions about the transparency of the use of personal data.
Sam Altman has previously repeatedly admitted that advertising is a «last resort» business model for him, but he hasn’t ruled it out entirely. At public events and on the OpenAI podcast, he has emphasized that the team is still looking for a format that would allow it to make money without destroying trust in the service. Current code finds suggest that a solution is probably close, at least for the free plan.
Currently, ChatGPT’s «free» users are already limited by the number of prompts, complexity of queries, and access to certain features. Advertising could be the next step: it’s likely that the free version will receive banners or promo responses in exchange for the ability to use the model more often. Paid plans, as with other AI services, could remain ad-free and be marketed as a «pure» experience.
This is not a unique scenario in the market: OpenAI itself has previously changed plans when free image generation proved too popular, and large tech companies have long combined AI services with advertising tools. For OpenAI, launching advertising in ChatGPT could be a way to boost monetization without drastically cutting the capabilities of the free tier.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how OpenAI informed API clients that its chatgpt-4o-latest model would be decommissioned on the developer platform in mid-February 2026.
