OpenAI leans into advertising, testing how far users will tolerate AI with ads

OpenAI is moving ahead with plans to weave advertising into its products, testing how users react when their AI assistant comes with ads attached. While CEO Sam Altman has repeatedly described advertising as a “last resort” for the company’s business model, users in Europe and elsewhere report receiving emails in mid‑August explaining that new ad formats will begin appearing in certain apps and services. Discussion threads suggest OpenAI is rolling out the changes on a country‑by‑country basis, updating an earlier policy post as new markets are added rather than announcing a fresh global launch.

The shift highlights a core tension in the generative AI boom: running state‑of‑the‑art models is enormously expensive, and subscription fees alone may not cover the costs of compute, research and safety work. Ads offer a familiar revenue stream, but they also raise new questions when combined with highly personalised AI agents. How will targeting work when an AI knows your projects, anxieties and habits in granular detail? Will sponsored suggestions be clearly marked inside natural‑language conversations? Regulators in the USとEUでは、アルゴリズム広告とデータ利用を巡るルール整備が進んでおり、OpenAIの動きは今後、AIサービスに対する広告規制議論の試金石になりそうです。