OpenAI Is Set To Bring Ads To One Of Its Biggest Markets

OpenAI has started showing advertisements to some ChatGPT users in India, expanding a new source of revenue in one of the chatbot's largest markets as the artificial intelligence company looks for ways to monetize its massive consumer audience.

The ads are being introduced for logged-in adults using ChatGPT's Free and Go plans, while users of Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu accounts will not see them. OpenAI's Help Center says ads may appear below ChatGPT responses and are kept visually separate from the answers themselves. Accounts identified as belonging to people under 18 are also excluded from the program.

India gives OpenAI a particularly large audience for the rollout. The company said in February that the country had surpassed 100 million weekly ChatGPT users, making it one of the service's biggest markets worldwide. The figure was disclosed as part of the company's OpenAI for India initiative, which also included plans to expand local infrastructure and partnerships.

The company told CNBC that advertising would help support broader access to ChatGPT through its free and lower-cost offerings. The Go subscription costs 399 rupees, or about $4, a month in India. The company said India was among ChatGPT's "largest and most active markets."

The India launch follows OpenAI's expansion of ChatGPT advertising into other major markets. The company began testing ads in the U.S. in February before extending the program to the U.K., Mexico, Brazil, Japan and South Korea. Earlier this month, OpenAI also announced an expansion into 31 European markets, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.

More than 50 brands are expected to participate in the initial India rollout, according to TechCrunch, with OpenAI working with advertising groups WPP and Omnicom. The company is also preparing to open self-service access to its advertising system, allowing businesses to create and manage campaigns without going through OpenAI's sales team.

Advertising gives OpenAI another way to generate revenue from users who do not pay for its higher-priced subscriptions. The company said in February that ChatGPT had more than 900 million weekly active users globally and more than 50 million consumer subscribers, while more than 9 million paying business users relied on the service for work, according to an OpenAI funding and business update.

OpenAI has stressed that advertisers will not be able to influence ChatGPT's answers or access users' conversations. Its advertising documentation says responses are generated independently from sponsored placements and advertisers receive aggregated performance information rather than users' chats, memories or personal details.

The strategy differs from rival Anthropic, which has pledged to keep Claude free of advertising. OpenAI, meanwhile, is expanding the tools available to advertisers: its advertising platform now lets marketers target users as they compare products and consider decisions, and self-service advertising in India is scheduled to begin on Sept. 4.