No more free lunch? OpenAI starts inserting ads into ChatGPT
Right after Anthropic indirectly took a dig at OpenAI for wanting to insert ads into Chatbots, the Sam Altman-led startup has started serving ads in its chatbots. here are the details.
The Super Bowl is one of the biggest events of the year, especially in America. However, AI was also in the headlines this year. It appears that Anthropic is taking a dig at OpenAI for wanting to show ads in ChatGPTT. Now, the Sam Altman-led AI startup has added ads to its chatbot anyway.
OpenAI shared a blog post revealing that it was going to begin testing ads within ChatGPTT on Monday, February 9th. These ads will only be shown to free and ChatGPT Go users. The company has clarified that ads will not be visible to ChatGPT Plus or Pro paid subscribers.
During the Super Bowl, Anthropic’s ad, which was uploaded to YouTube a few days earlier, shows an AI personality giving advice to a user, then immediately delivering the ad as a recommendation. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has previously clarified that ChatGPT will not serve ads in this manner.
OpenAI says ads won’t impact ChatGPT results
OpenAI addressed the concerns in a press release, saying, “Ads do not influence the answers that ChatGPT gives you, and we keep your interactions with ChatGPT private from advertisers,” and, “We’re starting with a test to learn, listen, and make sure we get the experience right.” According to OpenAI, ads will be matched to users based on their conversation topics and previous chats, but advertisers will not have access to individual chat data.
From a technical perspective, OpenAI says, “Ads in ChatGPT will be ‘clearly labeled as sponsored and visually separated from replies.'” The company has implemented safeguards to prevent ads from appearing with “sensitive or regulated topics such as health, mental health or politics”.
OpenAI says users will have the control to stop receiving personalized ads or understand why they are being shown a certain ad specifically. Users will also be able to remove their ad data from the chatbot.
OpenAI wants AI to be affordable with ads
Sam Altman said the AI startup would use ads to make AI more accessible to the billions of people who might not be able to subscribe.
The company says that it is ready to receive feedback from users for this change. Additionally, OpenAI indicated that it may “support additional formats” for ads in the future, potentially giving businesses more ways to interact with the user.
