An example of what ads might look like in ChatGPT (OpenAI)

OpenAI set to start rolling out ads to free and ChatGPT Go users

OpenAI says user conversations will be kept private from advertisers, and answers will not be influenced by ads.

1/16/26 1:58PM

It was bound to happen at some point. OpenAI has finally disclosed the details of how it plans to roll out ads for users of ChatGPT.

The company announced today in a blog post that in the coming weeks, ads will start rolling out to users of the $8-per-month ChatGPT Go product and the free tier of the chatbot. OpenAI listed some guiding principles that will steer its approach to ads:

ChatGPT will not offer answers that are influenced by ads, but will always optimize answers based on “what’s most helpful to you,” and the ads will be clearly labeled and separate from the chat.
ChatGPT conversations will be kept private and not shared with advertisers, and OpenAI says it will “never sell your data to advertisers.”
ChatGPT users can turn off personalization (which is used for ad targeting) and can clear this data at any time. The company also pledged to always offer a paid ad-free tier of the product.

OpenAI also said that the company does not “optimize for time spent in ChatGPT,” something that other social media apps like TikTok and Meta’s Instagram do.

Ads will not be shown to minors, and chats with sensitive topics like health, mental health, or politics will not display ads, according to the blog post. Plus, Pro and Enterprise subscriptions will not show ads.

OAI Ad Blog Inline-AdMock1 16x9 — An example of how a sponsored ad might appear in ChatGPT (OpenAI)

OpenAI has a lot riding on rolling out a responsible approach to ads, as it seeks to shore up its revenues to keep up with its ambitious growth. Turning ads on for its hundreds of millions of free users would certainly generate some serious additional revenue, which it needs to fulfill its $1 trillion worth of deals.

But we know that users share some pretty sensitive, personal information in their chats, and the company needs to establish trust with its users. Pressure to monetize chats at the expense of user trust could send users to competing chat platforms.

Rani Molla7m

OpenAI’s models are officially coming to Amazon

Amazon is finally getting in on the hottest ticket in tech.

After Microsoft announced yesterday that it had agreed to give up its exclusive rights to sell OpenAI’s models, Amazon, as expected, will start offering them to customers — something AWS CEO Matt Garman says users have been asking for “for a really long time.” Some models are available now in preview, and the most powerful GPT versions will show up “in the coming weeks.”

This is a big shift in the AI cloud wars. Microsoft’s early bet on OpenAI gave Azure an edge by locking up the most in-demand models. Now that exclusivity is gone, Amazon and other competitors can finally offer them too, closing a key gap and competing more directly for AI customers.

Amazon Set to Sell OpenAI Tech After Microsoft Cedes Exclusivity

Claire Yubin Oh3h

Ship-tracking app surges as Iran war continues

As Middle East peace talks stretch on, with Tehran reportedly offering to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the US lifts its blockade and the war ends, the owner of shipping intelligence platform MarineTraffic revealed that the app has gained millions of new users since the conflict began.

MarineTraffic’s user count jumped to 8.5 million this April, up from 3.5 million a year ago, the cofounder of its parent company, Kpler, said in an interview with the Financial Times. Paid subscribers, often workers within companies and governments looking for more data on supply chains and commodities trading, rose 11,000 in the same period.

Kpler, which also owns shipping intelligence platform FleetMon, draws its data from a range of sources, including the Automatic Identification System, satellites, and more than 500 people on-site, like port terminal operators.

Per Appfigures data, MarineTraffic is estimated to have raked in almost $1 million across March and April in app revenue (through April 27), more than double the ~$346,500 from the same months last year. Across the full year, Kpler expects to earn between $300 million and $400 million in annual recurring revenues.

Rani Molla

pedal to the meta

Meta could be getting ready to post its highest revenue growth since 2021

Meta’s outlook and analyst estimates suggest more than 30% revenue growth in Q1.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg visits U.S. Capitol for Senate meetings

Tom Jones8h

Google will supply AI models to Pentagon in classified deal, per The Information

Google has become the latest tech company to ink an agreement to supply the Department of Defense (War) with AI, having reportedly closed a classified deal that allows the Pentagon to use its AI for “any lawful government purpose,” according to The Information.

The Information initially reported talks between the Alphabet-owned company and the US government around two weeks ago, following the messy breakdown of the relationship between Anthropic and the Trump administration — and the rushed OpenAI deal that took its place.

The move has reportedly sparked opposition among Google employees, with The Washington Post reporting that over 600 workers signed a letter to CEO Sundar Pichai to ask him to bar the Defense Department from using the company’s AI models for any classified work.