After Sam Altman repeatedly said ads were something of a last resort, it appears OpenAI must be in a far more precarious spot than we thought. Either way, the news shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given the world we live in; if something doesn’t make money, it doesn’t last long unchanged.
Therefore, while ChatGPT is an unquestionable success, it famously still struggles to make more money from its users than the annual power bill. Even saying “thanks” to the LLM adds the kind of cost to their operation that would sink a medium-sized enterprise.
So then, what are the details and when can we expect to see ChatGPT whipping out an advert for beer anytime we tell it we are bored? Well, there’s no fixed date yet, but it’s coming real soon. Let’s take a look at what is known, what has leaked, and what this could mean for the average user experience.
The Financial Wall
Currently, OpenAI (I’ll call it OAI from here) burns through $7 Billion per year on inference and training. Their current efforts to monetize ChatGPT are the premium tier subscriptions at $20/$200, and so far they have proven wildly incapable of converting the 900 million weekly users into customers.
With a company valuation of $157 Billion, there is a massive amount of pressure from investors to start earning money beyond the current “Plus” and “Pro” users. Internally, they aren’t just looking for pocket change; they are targeting a staggering $25 Billion in annual ad revenue by 2029.
Enter the Ad-Man Logic
Back in 2024, when the world was all “oooh” about ChatGPT, Sam Altman said ads were a “last resort”. Fast forward to mid-2025 and Sam was suddenly praising Instagram-style ads as a “net win”. Remember when Zuckerberg famously said Facebook would NEVER monetize user data? Yeah, well, hold that thought.
In May 2025, OAI appointed their “War-Time” monetisation general: Fidji Simo. She is a Meta veteran who literally led the launch of ads in the Facebook News Feed. You don’t hire the architect of mobile monetisation to keep things as is.
OAI then doubled down by spending over $1 Billion on acquiring a company called Statsig. Statsig is built for one thing: the “optimisation” of “ad load” on users without triggering a mass exodus of subscribers.
The Leaked Plumbing
The proof of these plans was found when an Android app beta (v1.2025.329) was reverse-engineered by Tibor Blaho. The findings showed a directory of code strings that serve as a “menu” for an ad platform.
What was discovered indicates OAI intends to implement something far more sophisticated than simple banners:
sponsored_content: This suggests ads would be “native,” woven directly into the AI’s response. Imagine asking a serious medical or financial question and being offered products that “solve” (read: take advantage of) the anxiety you just displayed. That is the silver bullet of sales.
search_ad_carousel: This points to a visual ad format where the app presents products from the highest bidder, not necessarily the best solution.
ad_api: This shows OAI is building the infrastructure for third parties to bid on your “intent”. This is the move toward a self-service ad machine like Meta or Google.
The “Bazaar” and the Peloton Leak
We even got a preview of these mechanics when a few “rogue” ads broke cover in late 2025. Users, including $200/month Pro tier members, reported seeing ads for Peloton and Target in their responses.
The code also referenced “bazaar_content,” suggesting OAI wants to turn ChatGPT into a digital shopping mall where you “check out” items directly from the chat. OAI claimed these were just “app suggestions” with “no financial component,” but the truth is clear: the targeting engine is live.
The Code Red
This leak, combined with a sudden “Code Red” in December 2025, saw OAI “temporarily” pause the ad rollout. But don’t mistake this for an ethical change of heart. The pause was triggered because Google’s Gemini 3 began smoking ChatGPT in IQ benchmarks. OAI realised they couldn’t turn their bot into a salesman if it was starting to look like an also ran.
The Outlook
We are entering a period where the “clean interface” era is officially ending. Free users will likely see these “features” first, accompanied by a mountain of BS marketing telling them it “enhances the experience”.
The situation reminds me of The Truman Show, where Jim Carrey’s character thinks life is not what it seems, only for his wife to start robotically pitching him hot chocolate. Users who have grown to trust the LLM as a neutral advisor are about to find out their “assistant” has a new agenda.
The only question is how many will accept the pitch, and how many will cut ties.