OpenAI's potential plan to incorporate ads in products like ChatGP is hardly surprising — but should still serve as a wake-up call for AI makers and users. Why it matters: AI chatbots cost a fortune to run and remain available for free.

Is OpenAI discussing plans for an ad model? Maybe. But don't expect advertising to appear in ChatGPT anytime soon.

As OpenAI is in the process of restructuring to a for-profit model, the company is looking for ways to increase its revenues, and it’s picking the fastest route: advertisements.

Weighty Proposition They're not copping to much yet, but recent hiring activity and wishy-washy statements make it seem an awful lot like OpenAI is planning to introduce ads into its suite of products.

Sarah Friar, OpenAI’s chief financial officer has hinted that the organisation may be lookin for ways to integrate ads with ChatGPT and other OpenAI services, during a recent interview. OpenAI has also been on a hiring spree,

OpenAI is looking at adding advertisements alongside its artificial intelligence responses, according to company CFO Sarah Friar

Predictions suggest that OpenAI might release a new model before the year’s end. In the October Reddit AMA, Altman confirmed that "very good releases" are coming but added that none of them will be called ChatGPT-5. Instead, OpenAI’s focus will be on refining other models like GPT-4 and o1, which were released this year.

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar tells the FT that an ad-based model is under consideration, though she later followed that up to say, 'We have no active plans to pursue advertising.'

OpenAI, the company responsible for ChatGPT, is reportedly playing around with the potential of introducing advertising as a new revenue stream for its AI tool. If it went forward with this plan, it would be a complete reversal from its initial premise for one of the world’s most valuable AI companies.