OpenAI COO says advertising rollout will be an iterative process

Last month, OpenAI said it plans to bring advertising to users on ChatGPT’s Free and Go tiers. The company began showing ads to U.S.-based users earlier this month, a move that came amid criticism from competitors such as Anthropic, which ran a series of Super Bowl advertisements.

On the sidelines of the India AI summit, OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap was asked how the company is thinking about advertising and what the rollout will look like. Lightcap said the approach will be gradual and iterative, and emphasised that OpenAI must handle privacy and trust correctly.

“Well, this is going to be an iterative process for sure. This is something we are committed to getting right. What does that look like? It means obviously maintaining user trust at a very high level. It means getting privacy right,” Lightcap said.

He also argued that ads can enhance the user experience if executed thoughtfully. Lightcap said OpenAI’s focus is on building a product experience that still feels good to use, and that the company expects to make changes over time as it learns what works. He suggested giving OpenAI a few months to see how the effort develops.

“It means really creating a delightful product experience. We think ads done right can be additive to a product experience. And so it’ll take iteration and time, but we’re just starting, so maybe give us a few months and see how it goes,” he said.

Lightcap did not say whether OpenAI is currently planning to expand ads beyond the U.S. market.

Earlier this month, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded to Anthropic with a lengthy post on X about the Super Bowl ad campaign, calling Anthropic “dishonest” and accusing the company of building an expensive product aimed at “rich people.”

“More importantly, we believe everyone deserves to use AI and are committed to free access, because we believe access creates agency. More Texans use ChatGPT for free than the total number of people who use Claude in the U.S., so we have a differently-shaped problem than they do,” Altman wrote.

Multiple outlets have reported that OpenAI is charging around $60 per 1,000 impressions, a rate that stands out as unusually high in the ad market. Adweek reported last month that OpenAI is also asking advertisers for a minimum commitment of $200,000. And earlier this week, The Information reported that Shopify is enabling merchants to advertise on ChatGPT through its Shop Campaigns ad network, joining early testers that reportedly include Target, Williams Sonoma, and Adobe.