ChatGPT Ads Raise Questions Over Access and Privacy

OpenAI has moved to introduce advertising within ChatGPT, reversing its earlier opposition to ads in its artificial intelligence tools. The company has expanded the programme to around 60 countries, bringing questions about its business model and user privacy into sharper focus.

The shift points to a central challenge for AI services: how to fund wider access. Advertising offers a potential source of revenue beyond subscriptions and could help support services for people unwilling or unable to pay. That possibility, however, does not establish how the proceeds will be used.

Privacy is another key concern. Conversations with AI tools can contain sensitive personal information, making it important to clarify whether chat content influences advertising and what control users have over any data used for that purpose. The expansion alone does not answer those questions.

The change also raises an issue of trust: users need to be able to distinguish paid promotions from the assistant’s responses. As advertising reaches more countries, clear disclosure and an explanation of data practices will be central to assessing whether broader access comes with acceptable safeguards.