Engineer Tibor Blaho reportedly discovered references to an upcoming ad feature in the ChatGPT app for Android devices. Apparently, code strings mention the ability to search ads, a carousel for searching ads, and an ad API.
Potentially, the change may also come to ChatGPT on all platforms, including iOS, Mac, and desktop, despite the references in the code being found in the Android version.
The wording "search" implies that the potential ads may be limited to web searches or shopping research prompts.
Image Credit - OpenAI
ChatGPT paid versions may not get ads
Right now, if you want to have a paid version of ChatGPT, the plans start at $20 per month for the Plus option. There's also a more expensive, almost limitless ChatGPT Pro plan, which costs $200 per month. It has higher access limits.
In the meantime, the company also offers business and education plans, as well as the aforementioned free plan.
Do you think ads in ChatGPT’s free tier are a good idea?
Yes — it keeps the free plan alive
33.33%
No — I don’t want ads in ChatGPT at all
16.67%
I’d rather pay than see ads
0%
Depends on how intrusive the ads are
50%
In some countries and regions, OpenAI also has a cheaper "Go" plan, which may roll out to the United States at the same time as the rumored ad rollout.
Meanwhile, there are rumors about OpenAI and its plans to start increasing the price of access to its super-popular chatbot. There may be a restructuring of plans coming.
It makes quite a lot of sense to have an ad-supported tier introduced and make price changes at the same time, so this could be something the company may be looking into.
There have been reports that OpenAI executives have been changing how they express themselves when it comes to ads in the last 12 months. Basically, towards the end of 2024, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said that ads were a "last resort". However, at the beginning of 2025, some leaked internal forecasts included $1 billion in "free user monetization" revenue that was forecasted for next year.
Meanwhile, Altman had also said that he likes Instagram ads, and reportedly, OpenAI's CEO had said that they were valuable. It seems that he thinks OpenAI could find ads that could be a win for the user, as well as for the company.
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Ads in ChatGPT are not a bad thing in my opinion
I dislike ads. However, I understand why there's no free lunch in this world, and that makes total sense to me. My choice so far has always been to go for paid versions or subscriptions of the apps I like and use the most often, instead of opting for ad-supported variants.
Of course, not everyone can afford having a lot of subscriptions (neither can I, for that matter), so a company offering a cheaper plan with ads is reasonable. I wouldn't dare to expect that ChatGPT should remain free of charge for everyone; that's just not how I see the world.
There are plenty of resources going into developing and maintaining any type of product, and that includes a generative AI chatbot such as ChatGPT. So, of course, the company would want to monetize it.
I actually have a pretty radical opinion about subscriptions, ads, and the internet. I would prefer everything on the internet to be paid as long as I don't see ads anywhere. But that's just me, and it seems like it would be hard to achieve in general.
Anyway, at the moment, it's not known when OpenAI plans to introduce ads to the free version of ChatGPT. Potentially, the change may be coming soon, but how soon, it's not entirely clear right now.
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Izzy, a tech enthusiast and a key part of the PhoneArena team, specializes in delivering the latest mobile tech news and finding the best tech deals. Her interests extend to cybersecurity, phone design innovations, and camera capabilities. Outside her professional life, Izzy, a literature master's degree holder, enjoys reading, painting, and learning languages. She's also a personal growth advocate, believing in the power of experience and gratitude. Whether it's walking her Chihuahua or singing her heart out, Izzy embraces life with passion and curiosity.
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