OpenAI, the artificial intelligence provider, is rolling out advertisements to its German ChatGPT users. According to a notification released to users in Germany, ads are expected to appear in the Free and Go plans starting at the end of this month. However, the more exclusive subscription tiers-including Plus, Pro, Enterprise, Business, and Education-will remain free of advertisements.
To facilitate this change, the company plans to update its data protection policy. Initially, the ads will not be customized; instead, they will be selected based on the current topic of the ChatGPT conversation and limited contextual information, such as the user’s approximate location and device type. OpenAI confirmed that past chats or user memories will not be used to select these initial ads.
Before implementing personalization, users will be prompted to actively choose whether they wish to view “more relevant and personalized” ads. If a user opts in, the personalized advertisements will be based solely on information residing within ChatGPT, such as ads they have interacted with or context pulled from their ongoing chats. Furthermore, users will have the ability to manage the personalization settings directly within the service.
From a data and advertising perspective, OpenAI states that advertisers will only receive “aggregated information” regarding ad performance, such as the total number of clicks or views. The company assures users that the presence of ads will not influence the answers provided by ChatGPT. These ads will always be clearly marked and visually distinct from the standard ChatGPT responses.
Furthermore, OpenAI insists that private personal data and conversations with ChatGPT will remain confidential and will not be shared with advertisers. The company explicitly stated that advertisers do not have access to a user’s chats, chat history, memories, or any personal data.
This introduction of ad revenue is part of a larger, gradual global rollout that the AI provider has been conducting in recent months. Most of the world, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, already has ads on ChatGPT. Just a few days ago, such an announcement was made for users in Brazil and Mexico.
