ChatGPT to show you adverts after losing billions

ChatGPT is to begin showing users adverts for the first time unless they pay for a monthly subscription.OpenAI, the bot’s developer, said it would start displaying adverts in the coming weeks based on what people ask ChatGPT.However, it pledged not to sell users’ data and said the adverts would not influence what ChatGPT itself says.Adverts in ChatGPT will sit at the bottom of the screen and be based on what the user has asked about, as well as personal data people ChatGPT stores on users.For example, asking about a popular holiday destination could include an advert for a hotel in the city.Adverts will be shown to people using the free version of ChatGPT, which make up the vast majority of the company’s users.Customers who do not want to see adverts will have to pay for the company’s Pro, Plus or Enterprise subscriptions, which cost £20 a month and upwards.OpenAI also said it would introduce a cheaper £8 a month subscription, called Go, that would still show adverts but allow some extra features, such as letting users send more messages a month.OpenAI said it would start testing adverts with users in the US in the coming weeks.It said putting adverts in the chatbot, which has around 800 million users, would allow it to keep the system free.OpenAI has lost billions of dollars developing and operating ChatGPT, which requires exorbitant spending on AI data centres.It has told investors it does not expect to make a profit until the end of the decade as it projects spending more than a trillion dollars to build out its business.The company has pledged not to show adverts to children while it is testing the technology. It also said it would not show them in chats about sensitive topics such as health, mental health and politics.It said it would never sell data to advertisers, and that users would be able to turn off personalisation if they wished, so that adverts were not influenced by the contents of previous chats.“AI is reaching a point where everyone can have a personal super-assistant that helps them learn and do almost anything,” the company said. “Who gets access to that level of intelligence will shape whether AI expands opportunity or reinforces the same divides.”Around 13 million people in the UK used ChatGPT a month last summer, according to Ofcom.This week, Google said it was introducing adverts into its “AI Mode” search results, which would offer discounts to shoppers.