ChatGPT to show ads in Germany from next week

OpenAI has announced that ChatGPT users in Germany will begin seeing in-chat advertisements starting next week, between August 24 and 30. The European expansion, which includes Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Austria, marks the company's largest rollout to date. Previously, OpenAI had been testing ads in the United States for six months, extending the program to other markets like the UK, Canada, Australia, and Japan.

Users with cheaper ChatGPT plans, such as the Free and Go plans (the latter costing 8 euros per month), will encounter ads. To avoid ads entirely, users must upgrade to the 23-euro Plus subscription or the Pro plan, priced at 103 euros per month. Due to the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, OpenAI intends to personalize ads based on conversation topics, location, device type, time of day, and language, thus circumventing the need for explicit user consent.

However, users will have the option to toggle targeted ads on or off. Despite ads, OpenAI assures that the platform's responses will remain private from advertisers and unaffected by advertising revenue. The company maintains that ads will be clearly labeled, separate from ChatGPT's responses, and will not influence the AI's answers.

With an estimated 900 million weekly users worldwide, only 9 million of those are currently subscribed to paid plans, underscoring the significance of this revenue stream for OpenAI.