OpenAI Begins Testing Ads in ChatGPT — Anthropic Declares No Ads in Claude

ChatGPT Ad Testing Begins

OpenAI announced on Monday that it will begin testing ads in ChatGPT. Ads will be shown to free tier and Go tier (monthly $20) users, while Pro tier and above will remain ad-free.

OpenAI emphasized that ads will be clearly marked and visually separated from chatbot answers. This is intended to minimize concerns about confusion between ads and actual responses.

Monetization Pressure

This decision demonstrates that OpenAI is seeking monetization solutions amid massive operating costs and investor pressure. While ChatGPT has hundreds of millions of monthly users, operating large language models incurs enormous computing costs.

Free users generate almost no revenue while server costs continue. Advertising appears to be a method to offset these costs and make the free service sustainable.

Anthropic's Contrasting Position

Interestingly, OpenAI's competitor Anthropic took the opposite stance. Anthropic stated in a release that "including ads in conversations with Claude would be incompatible" with positioning Claude as "a genuinely helpful assistant for work and for deep thinking."

Anthropic made clear it will not include ads in Claude for now and will prioritize user experience and trust.

Business Model Differences

The two companies' approaches reflect different business philosophies:

OpenAI:

Maintain large free user base + ad monetization

Provide premium experience through Pro/Team/Enterprise subscriptions

More aggressive growth and monetization strategy

Anthropic:

Differentiate with ad-free premium experience

Focus on enterprise customers and API revenue

Maintain "genuinely helpful assistant" positioning

User Reactions

Reactions in the ChatGPT user community are mixed. Some understand ads as necessary to maintain free service, while others express concerns about AI assistant reliability and neutrality.

The core question is: "Won't ads influence AI answers?" While OpenAI emphasizes that ads are completely separated from the answer generation process, earning user trust is a separate challenge.

AI Industry Trend

This move demonstrates the AI industry's transition from hype to pragmatism. 2026 will be the year AI companies must prove sustainable business models.

Advertising is the most proven digital monetization model, but presents new challenges in the AI assistant context. Users expect ads in search engines, but in a "personal assistant"?

Future Outlook

If OpenAI's ad testing succeeds, other AI companies will likely consider similar strategies. Conversely, if user backlash is strong, Anthropic's "no ads" strategy could become a competitive advantage.

Ultimately the market will decide: whether users will accept a free + ads model or willingly pay for a premium experience.

Sources

NBC News: OpenAI starts testing ads in ChatGPT

LLM Stats: AI Updates Today (February 2026)