Hajra Naz
OpenAI continues to insist that ChatGPT currently has no advertisements—and no active ad tests—running on the platform. But the company’s chief research officer, Mark Chen, acknowledged that it “fell short” with the recent promotional-style messages users reported seeing and said OpenAI is now working to improve that experience.
The remarks came after several paying ChatGPT subscribers posted screenshots showing what looked like promotional prompts for brands such as Peloton and Target. Those posts quickly circulated, sparking frustration from users who felt the messages resembled ads.
OpenAI responded by saying it was simply experimenting with different ways to highlight third-party apps created on the ChatGPT app platform launched in October. According to the company, those suggestions had “no financial component” and were not paid placements. Still, skepticism remained—one user replied bluntly, “Bruhhh… Don’t insult your paying users.”
ChatGPT head Nick Turley also weighed in, saying on Friday that he was “seeing lots of confusion about ad rumors in ChatGPT.”
“There are no live tests for ads—any screenshots you’ve seen are either not real or not ads,” Turley wrote. “If we do pursue ads, we’ll take a thoughtful approach. People trust ChatGPT, and anything we do will be designed to respect that.”
But earlier that same day, Chen struck a more apologetic tone, suggesting the issue wasn’t simply a misunderstanding.
“I agree that anything that feels like an ad needs to be handled with care, and we fell short,” he said. “We’ve turned off this kind of suggestion while we improve the model’s precision. We’re also looking into better controls so users can dial this down or switch it off if they don’t find it helpful.”
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The controversy comes at a time of shifting priorities inside OpenAI. Earlier this year, the company hired former Instacart and Facebook executive Fidji Simo as its CEO of Applications, and many expected her to play a major role in building out an advertising business.
But according to a recent Wall Street Journal report, a memo from CEO Sam Altman declared a “code red,” refocusing the company on improving ChatGPT’s core quality and delaying several initiatives — including advertising.
