OpenAI is looking at adding advertisements alongside its artificial intelligence responses, according to company CFO Sarah Friar. Her comment on the potential ad model came during an interview with FT published on Monday.
Friar didn’t offer a time frame on when ChatGPT users may see ads alongside chat responses, saying the company wanted to “thoughtful about when and where we implement” them.
And following her interview with FT, Friar tempered expectations even more about a pending ad rollout.
“Our current business is experiencing rapid growth and we see significant opportunities within our existing business model,” Friar said in a statement after her interview. “While we’re open to exploring other revenue streams in the future, we have no active plans to pursue advertising.”
Currently, OpenAI sells access to a premium version of ChatGPT, its AI-powered chatbot, for $20 per month. The San Francisco-based company, led by CEO Sam Altman, expects $3.7 billion in sales in 2024, according to financial documents reviewed by The New York Times. OpenAI’s revenue is anticipated to hit $11.7 billion in 2025, according to those same documents.
After raising $6.6 billion earlier this year, OpenAI is now worth more than $150 billion. The company said in August it had 200 million weekly ChatGPT users. By hitting those users with ads alongside their questions for its chatbot, OpenAI could augment the subscription revenue it gets from premium subscribers — although it is unclear what OpenAI’s ad rollout would look like and if it would turn off some users.
