OpenAI is actively testing advertisements within ChatGPT, as revealed by recent code leaks in the Android app beta, marking a potential end to the platform’s ad-free era.
Leaked Code Signals Ad Rollout
Strings like “search ad” and “search ads carousel” appeared in ChatGPT’s Android beta version 1.2025.329, hinting at ads tied to search queries and “bazaar content.” These features remain hidden from users but point to preparations for public deployment, possibly starting with contextual placements in shopping or product-related chats. OpenAI has not commented officially, fueling speculation on platforms like Reddit and Hacker News.
Driving Factors: Financial Pressures Mount
ChatGPT serves 800 million weekly users, with free tier dominating despite ChatGPT Plus subscriptions. Massive compute costs—billions annually on GPUs and data centers—threaten sustainability without new revenue streams. CEO Sam Altman has floated ads as a viable option, emphasizing trust preservation to avoid biased outputs.
Strategic Hiring and Long-Term Plans
OpenAI ramped up ad-focused recruitment earlier this year, seeking engineers for campaign tracking and personalization using ChatGPT’s memory. A full ad network could challenge Google and Meta, blending AI recommendations with sponsored results in non-intrusive formats like conversation breaks. Projections show 220 million paying users by 2030, but ads aim to support broader access.
Experts view this as inevitable for AI scalability, mirroring YouTube and Google Search models that sustain free services for billions.
