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ChatGPT will start showing image ads next to the images you generate
OpenAI will test visual ads this month in the US that will appear next to the images you ask ChatGPT to create. It says they won't change the answers.
The essentials
2 confirmed facts · 2 according to the source · 3 open questions
- OpenAI will start testing image ads in ChatGPT in late October, only in the United States and with a small group of advertisers.23
- According to the sourceThe ads will appear next to the images you generate and, according to OpenAI, they will be labeled and will not influence ChatGPT's answers.23
- According to the sourceAccording to The Verge, people with a Plus or Pro subscription will not see these ads.2
- Ads in ChatGPT began in February and reached India in August.23
Why it matters
Ads are moving from a discreet link under the chat to taking up visual space on the screen. This suggests OpenAI wants to support its free and low-cost plans with advertising. TechCrunch notes that the annoyance could push some users to pay to avoid them, though that is its own reading.
If you use ChatGPT for free and generate images, you could see ads next to them when this reaches your country. For now, it's only in the US.
The details
OpenAI announced on October 5, 2026 a new ad format with images of products and services. According to The Verge, testing will begin in the US at the end of this month and, at first, the ads will show up when you generate images with ChatGPT.23 ChatGPT ads arrived in February and until now only showed the company's name, its logo and a link in a "sponsored" section below the conversation.2
Alongside the format, OpenAI is expanding the tools advertisers use to measure results, with a long list of partners, and is working with DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science on tests so brands can know in what environment their ads appear.3 According to TechCrunch, the goal is for ChatGPT to be a viable advertising business for people on the free and low-cost plans.3
What we don't know
- When it will reach Europe or Spain, if it does.
- Exactly which plans will be free of ads: The Verge mentions it, but the available text is cut off.
- How visible the labeling and the separation from the generated image will be.
Sources
- 1Building advertising for the way people use AI
- 2OpenAI is sticking more ads in ChatGPT
- 3OpenAI launches visual ads that appear alongside image generation results
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This story was written in Spanish by an artificial intelligence system from the sources listed above, and translated automatically. Before publication, a program checks that every figure and every name appears in the sources, and that the translation keeps the same facts, figures and sources. It has not been reviewed by a person. Spanish original · How we work (in Spanish)