For a long time, ChatGPT felt different from other digital platforms. No banners, no sponsored results, no obvious commercial pressure. That is now changing. OpenAI has officially announced that it will introduce advertising into ChatGPT’s free offerings — a move that marks a fundamental shift in how one of the world’s most influential AI systems is financed. While OpenAI frames ads as a way to expand access and keep AI affordable, the introduction of advertising into a conversational AI raises serious legal, ethical, and trust-related questions. Especially from a European perspective, this development deserves a closer, critical look.
How ChatGPT Ads Are Supposed to Work
According to OpenAI’s policy statement “Our approach to advertising and expanding access”, ads will initially be introduced in the free and low-cost versions of ChatGPT, while paid tiers such as Plus, Team, and Enterprise will remain ad-free. OpenAI emphasizes several core principles: ads should be clearly labeled, should not influence the model’s answers, and should not be based on sensitive personal data such as health information or political beliefs.
Crucially, OpenAI claims that advertisements will be separate from the AI’s core responses. In other words, ads are not meant to shape what ChatGPT says, but rather appear alongside the experience – for example as clearly marked placements outside the conversational output. The company also stresses that user conversations will not be shared with advertisers and that ads will not be targeted using chat content.
At least on paper, this sounds like a careful and restrained approach. But digital advertising has a long history of gradually expanding its reach once the infrastructure is in place. The question is not only how ads work today, but how they may evolve tomorrow.
The EU Legal Framework: GDPR and Digital Services Act
From a European legal perspective, the introduction of ads in ChatGPT immediately triggers two major regulatory regimes: the GDPR and the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Under the GDPR, any processing of personal data for advertising purposes requires a valid legal basis. If ads are personalized – even mildly – this can amount to profiling. Profiling, particularly when it relies on inferred interests or behavioral signals, is tightly regulated and often requires explicit consent. Even so-called “contextual advertising” can raise GDPR issues if user interactions are used to determine relevance.
The DSA adds another layer. It requires platforms to clearly label advertisements, disclose who paid for them, and explain why a specific user is seeing a particular ad. For very large online platforms, the DSA also mandates public ad repositories that allow regulators and researchers to scrutinize advertising practices. Importantly, the DSA bans targeted advertising based on sensitive categories of data and places strict limits on ads shown to minors.
Although ChatGPT’s ad rollout currently focuses on the U.S., any future deployment in the EU will have to comply with these rules. Given the EU’s track record of enforcing digital regulation – including recent fines against major tech platforms – this is not a theoretical concern.
A Critical Assessment: Where the Problems Begin
1. The Neutrality Problem
ChatGPT’s appeal has always been its perceived neutrality. Users do not approach it like a search engine or a social network, but more like a trusted assistant. Introducing ads – even if technically separated – risks undermining this perception. Once commercial content enters the interface, users may reasonably ask whether answers remain entirely unaffected by monetization incentives.
Even if OpenAI keeps a strict technical separation, perceived neutrality matters as much as actual neutrality. Trust, once lost, is difficult to regain.
2. Advertising Inside a Conversational Interface
Unlike websites or feeds, ChatGPT operates through dialogue. This creates a fundamentally different context for advertising. Ads inserted into a conversational environment can feel more intrusive, more persuasive, and harder to ignore, even when clearly labeled.
From a legal and ethical standpoint, this raises questions about undue influence. If a user asks for advice or information and sees an ad nearby, the line between assistance and persuasion can blur. European consumer protection law has long been skeptical of marketing techniques that exploit situational vulnerability and conversational AI may create precisely such situations.
3. Data Use and the “Trust Gap”
OpenAI insists that chat content will not be used for ad targeting. But users have learned to be cautious with such assurances. Many digital platforms started with similar promises, only to later expand data use in subtle ways – for analytics, optimization, or “improving relevance.”
Even without explicit targeting, advertising systems require measurement: impressions, engagement, effectiveness. This inevitably raises questions about what data is collected, how long it is stored, and for what secondary purposes it may be used. From a GDPR perspective, transparency and purpose limitation are not optional – but history shows that enforcement often lags behind innovation.
4. Access vs. Intrusion
OpenAI presents ads as a way to keep ChatGPT accessible to everyone. This argument is not without merit. Running large language models is expensive, and advertising may help subsidize free access.
However, European digital law has increasingly rejected the idea that users must “pay with their data” in order to access essential digital services. The debate around consent-or-pay models under the GDPR shows that regulators are wary of forcing users into privacy-intrusive trade-offs. Ads in ChatGPT risk reviving this tension in a new and particularly sensitive context.
Why the EU Perspective Matters
The fact that ChatGPT ads are being tested outside the EU is telling. European law sets higher standards for transparency, consent, and user protection – standards that are harder to reconcile with experimental ad models.
If and when ChatGPT ads arrive in Europe, OpenAI will need to demonstrate not only formal compliance, but substantive respect for user autonomy. Clear labeling, genuine opt-out options, minimal data processing, and public accountability will be essential. Anything less risks regulatory intervention and reputational damage.
Final Thoughts
Advertising in ChatGPT marks a turning point. It signals the transition of conversational AI from a utility-like service to a fully monetized platform. While OpenAI’s stated principles are cautious and user-friendly, the introduction of ads into an AI assistant inevitably changes the relationship between user and system.
From a legal and societal perspective, the key issue is not whether ads can exist in ChatGPT – but under what conditions. Transparency, strict separation from core answers, respect for data protection principles, and meaningful user choice are not “nice-to-haves” in the EU; they are legal requirements.
If ChatGPT is to remain a trusted tool rather than just another ad-driven platform, OpenAI will need to prove that monetization does not come at the cost of neutrality, privacy, and trust. In Europe especially, regulators – and users – will be watching closely.
Stay curious, stay informed, and let´s keep exploring the fascinating world of AI together.
This post was written with the help of different AI tools.
