OpenAI Confirms ChatGPT Will Now Answer Questions Based On Shareholder Value

SAN FRANCISCO — OpenAI announced this week that it is testing ads inside ChatGPT, completing what one product manager described as “the natural evolution from helpful assistant to slightly less helpful assistant with sponsors.”

In 2024, Sam Altman called advertising a “last resort for us as a business model.” Industry observers noted that “last resort” appears to have arrived sooner than anticipated, somewhere between the second and third unprofitable quarter. X

A spokesperson clarified that ads would be served only on free and lower-priced tiers, on the principle that honesty and accuracy is a premium feature.

Asked how ChatGPT would distinguish between an organic recommendation and a paid one, an OpenAI representative explained that the model would simply know, in the same way a sommelier knows which wine the restaurant needs to move before it goes off.

Reached for comment, ChatGPT said it would respond once it had consulted its sponsors, shareholders, and, time permitting, the question.