Welcome to the forefront of conversational AI as we explore the fascinating world of AI chatbots in our dedicated blog series. Discover the latest advancements, applications, and strategies that propel the evolution of chatbot technology. From enhancing customer interactions to streamlining business processes, these articles delve into the innovative ways artificial intelligence is shaping the landscape of automated conversational agents. Whether you’re a business owner, developer, or simply intrigued by the future of interactive technology, join us on this journey to unravel the transformative power and endless possibilities of AI chatbots.
An image shows how ads will be displayed on ChatGPT. Courtesy of OpenAI
OpenAI’s decision to bring advertisements into its generative AI chatbot ChatGPT is fueling concerns that commercial pressures could undermine the reliability and neutrality of AI answers, potentially pushing users toward rival services.
According to the company, it will begin testing ads in the free tier and the low-priced ChatGPT Go plan in the United States within weeks, while keeping higher-priced subscriptions ad-free. ChatGPT Go is a low-priced subscription tier positioned between the free and Plus plans, costing about $8 per month in the U.S. It explained that ads will appear beneath chatbot responses, clearly labeled and separated from AI-generated answers, while also stressing that the users’ data won’t be sold to advertisers.
While the company insists ads will not influence responses, reactions from Korean users and industry insiders suggest growing unease over trust, privacy and the risk of service abandonment.
A general user named Kim Bo-young, who occasionally use ChatGPT’s free-tier service, expressed doubt on the credibility of answers as they might prioritize advertisers to push users toward sponsored options under the guise of helpful recommendations.
“It feels like (ChatGPT) would sneak in the ads that pay them as ingredients in the answers, so I’d start doubting whether they are reliable,” she said. “I personally don’t even really watch YouTube because of ads … There are many other options. Even at work, my company already purchased its own generative AI service for employees to use.”
Stella Kim, who had been a long subscriber of ChatGPT Plus before switching recently to a Perplexity subscription, questioned the logic of ads even on paid tiers.
“I don’t understand paying money and still getting ads,” she said, noting ChatGPT has already been losing its advantage over its competitors. “Gemini’s quality has improved a lot, so I’ve been using that more. I recently switched from GPT to Perplexity because it’s half the price and lets me use multiple models. If ads come into GPT, there would be even more reason to not switch back to GPT.”
OpenAI logo / Reuters-Yonhap
An industry insider also raised concerns about whether the company can technically wall off advertising from influencing the core AI responses.
“I’m not sure whether OpenAI can really keep the technology completely separated so that ads don’t affect answers,” he said. “If ads show up during use, I think there will inevitably be an impact on the user experience, just like how users are affected by algorithms from search engines or shopping platforms.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman himself has repeatedly described advertising as a “last resort” business model for AI, calling the combination of ads and generative models “uniquely unsettling.”
However, the ad rollout comes as the company faces intensifying competition from models such as Google’s Gemini and mounting pressure to find new revenue streams to fund massive infrastructure and research costs, especially with its growth momentum slowing down.
Analysts, including economist Sebastian Mallaby, have warned that OpenAI could run dangerously low on funds over the next few months if spending on data centers and chips continues to far outpace revenue, raising concerns about a potential liquidity crisis as early as mid-2026 if no breakthrough emerges.
OpenAI, which has touted roughly 800 million weekly active users, is still believed to convert only a small single‑digit percentage, an estimated 4 to 5 percent, into paying subscribers, making advertising one of the few ways to monetize the vast free user base at scale.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks to media following a Q&A at the OpenAI data center in Abilene, Texas, Sept. 23, 2025. Reuters-Yonhap
Despite the initial negative reaction from users, experts noted that resistance to ads in AI services may soften over time as people grow accustomed to commercial elements in digital platforms.
The industry insider noted that, as global users tend to be more tolerant of ads and paying more for ad-free services, Korean users will also eventually come around.
“When Korean users see ads pop up in the middle of an app, they usually just close them and keep using it anyway. In the same way, given enough time, I think Koreans will eventually just accept it… as it can be seen as something fairly natural globally,” the insider said.
Yoo Byung-joon, a professor at the College of Business Administration at Seoul National University, also said advertising would not be a major issue as long as it is delivered transparently, drawing a parallel example with the evolution of search advertising.
“When Google first adopted sponsored results with its search engine, it got into trouble for not disclosing that certain results were ads, but now they clearly label them and we’ve become used to that advertising culture,” he said.
“Personally, I think we’ve become culturally very familiar (with how ad mechanisms work). So as long as ads are clearly labeled, I don’t see a major cause for concern. I also don’t think AI can avoid advertising altogether.”
