OpenAI Scrambles to Explain “Non-Ads” After Users Spot Ad-Like Promotions in ChatGPT

OpenAI continues to maintain that there are no ads and no tests for ads currently running in ChatGPT. Despite this, the company’s chief research officer, Mark Chen, acknowledged that OpenAI “fell short” with recent promotional-style messages shown to some users and said the team is working to improve the overall experience.

The response followed posts from paying ChatGPT subscribers who said they were seeing promotional messages referencing brands such as Peloton and Target. OpenAI executives said the messages were part of tests showing apps built on the ChatGPT app platform introduced in October, stressing that the tests carried “no financial component.” One user who initially flagged the issue responded skeptically, writing, “Bruhhh… Don’t insult your paying users.”

Executives Address “Confusion”

ChatGPT head Nick Turley wrote Friday that he was “seeing lots of confusion about ad rumors in ChatGPT,” adding:

There are no live tests for ads; any screenshots you’ve seen are either not real or not ads. If we do pursue ads, we’ll take a thoughtful approach. People trust ChatGPT, and anything we do will be designed to respect that.

Earlier the same day, Chen took a more apologetic tone. “I agree that anything that feels like an ad needs to be handled with care, and we fell short,” he wrote. He added that OpenAI has disabled this type of suggestion “while we improve the model’s precision” and is exploring options that would give users more control, including the ability to reduce or turn off such recommendations.

Ad Plans Delayed After ‘Code Red’

Fidji Sumo, formerly of Instacart and Facebook, joined OpenAI earlier this year as CEO of Applications and was widely expected to expand the company’s advertising strategy. However, The Wall Street Journal reported this week that CEO Sam Altman recently issued a “code red” memo directing teams to prioritize improving ChatGPT’s quality.

According to the report, this shift has pushed back other projects, including advertising.