ChatGPT Is Introducing Ads This Year. Why It Makes Sense. -- Barrons.com

Dow Jones01-17

By Angela Palumbo

OpenAI says it will be including advertisements in its free ChatGPT service. That isn't a surprise: Other companies have made similar moves to cash in on the expensive tech.

OpenAI said it would start testing the ads in the U.S. in the coming weeks "so more people can benefit from our tools with fewer usage limits or without having to pay." The Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise subscriptions, starting at $20 a month, won't include ads.

Collecting ad revenue gives the company another way to earn money. Other chatbots that have already introduced advertising or sponsored content include Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity. News Corp, the owner of Barron's publisher Dow Jones, has sued Perplexity AI for copyright infringement.

Barron's also previously reported that OpenAI brought Fidji Simo to the team as CEO of Applications, and expected her to lead the charge on ChatGPT eventually implementing ads. Simo, listed as the author of an OpenAI blog post discussing the move on Friday, was once the CEO of Instacart. She has a strong understanding of how online advertising works.

Simo said in the blog on Friday that OpenAI will start testing ads at the bottom of answers in ChatGPT, and these ads will be clearly labeled and separate from the chatbot's answer to the user's query. Ads won't affect how the model responds to questions.

The company also said that during the tests, ads won't appear on accounts where the user is expected to be under 18 years old. They also won't be shown near sensitive topics such as health, mental health, or politics.

OpenAI also said on Friday that its ChatGPT Go subscription is now available globally. ChatGPT Go costs $8 a month and is advertised as offering more for users than the free ChatGPT option, but less than ChatGPT Plus at $20 a month and ChatGPT Pro at $200 a month.

"ChatGPT Go is designed for people who want expanded access to our latest model, GPT--5.2 Instant, at a lower price point -- more messages, more uploads, and more image creation," OpenAI said.

Write to Angela Palumbo at angela.palumbo@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

 

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January 16, 2026 14:39 ET (19:39 GMT)

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