OpenAI has begun bringing advertisements to ChatGPT in India, opening a new chapter in how the company plans to make money from its AI chatbot. The ads are being introduced on the Free and Go plans, while users on higher-priced subscriptions will continue to use ChatGPT without advertising.
The move comes as OpenAI looks beyond subscriptions to monetise the growing number of people using its artificial intelligence tools. India, with its large online population and rapidly increasing use of generative AI, has become an important part of that strategy.
The initial advertising rollout includes more than 50 brands. OpenAI is working with advertising companies WPP and Omnicom to bring advertisers onto the platform and develop campaigns for Indian users.
The advertisements are expected to appear separately from ChatGPT’s answers. OpenAI has said advertisers will not be able to influence the responses generated by the chatbot or pay for favourable treatment in those answers.
That distinction is important because ChatGPT is increasingly being used not simply as a chatbot but as a tool for research and decision-making. Users turn to it to compare products, understand services, plan purchases, research companies and find answers to everyday questions.
Advertising inside such conversations creates a new opportunity for businesses, but it also presents a challenge for OpenAI. The company needs to ensure that users can easily identify sponsored material and understand that it is different from the chatbot’s own response.
OpenAI has maintained that advertisements will not be used to determine the content of ChatGPT responses. The company has also said that advertisers will not receive access to users’ private conversations.
For consumers, the advertising rollout creates a clearer divide between ChatGPT’s free and paid offerings. Free and Go users will be exposed to advertisements, while Plus and Pro subscribers will continue to receive an ad-free experience. Business, Enterprise and Education plans are also excluded from the advertising programme.
The change is part of a broader effort by OpenAI to build a business around ChatGPT that can support the enormous cost of developing and running AI models.
Generative AI services require substantial computing resources. Every interaction with an advanced chatbot consumes processing power, while training new models requires large investments in specialised chips and data centres.
OpenAI has so far relied on subscriptions, enterprise services and partnerships to generate revenue. Advertising could provide another source of income from users who do not pay for a premium ChatGPT plan.
India offers a particularly large audience for that model. ChatGPT has become widely used in the country, ranging from students and professionals to developers and businesses experimenting with AI.
The company has been expanding its operations in India as it seeks to strengthen its position in the market. Its focus includes growing relationships with businesses, developers and technology partners.
The push comes at a time when the AI market is becoming increasingly crowded. Google, Anthropic and other technology companies are competing with OpenAI for users and corporate customers.
The competition is also moving beyond AI models. Companies are looking for ways to make their products affordable, attract developers, secure computing capacity and establish sustainable revenue streams.
OpenAI’s advertising plans also come amid increasing scrutiny of the financial model behind generative AI. AI companies are spending heavily on infrastructure at a time when they are under pressure to prove that rising usage can eventually translate into strong profits.
Anthropic, OpenAI’s major rival and the company behind Claude, is also preparing for a possible public listing. Reports indicate that Anthropic could make its IPO prospectus public after the US Labor Day holiday, potentially paving the way for a stock-market debut later this year.
The expected IPO has drawn attention to the enormous valuations attached to leading AI companies and the amount of capital required to compete in the sector. Anthropic, like OpenAI, is investing heavily in computing infrastructure as demand for AI services increases.
For OpenAI, advertising offers a way to widen the commercial base of ChatGPT without making the free service entirely dependent on subscriptions.
The company must nevertheless strike a balance. ChatGPT’s appeal has largely been built around its ability to provide quick and useful answers. Introducing too many advertisements, or making commercial content difficult to distinguish from AI-generated information, could affect user confidence.
The advertising model also raises broader questions about the future of search and online discovery. Traditional search engines rely heavily on advertising, while social media platforms place sponsored content within feeds. AI assistants could eventually offer a similar commercial model, but within a conversational setting.
That could change how brands reach consumers. Instead of waiting for people to search through websites or scroll through social platforms, advertisers could potentially reach them while they are discussing a specific need with an AI assistant.
India is now becoming an early testing ground for that approach.
The success of this rollout will depend on whether advertising can generate meaningful revenue without damaging the ChatGPT experience. For Indian users, it will mark a visible change to the free version of a service that has rapidly become part of the country’s growing AI ecosystem.
