Overview
- COO Brad Lightcap called the rollout an iterative process focused on maintaining user trust and getting privacy right, asking for a few months to assess results.
- The test began Feb. 9 for a limited set of adult users in the U.S., placing clearly labeled sponsored placements beneath responses in ChatGPT.
- OpenAI is commanding about $60 per 1,000 impressions with reported minimum buys near $200,000, and early participants include Target, Williams‑Sonoma, Adobe and Audible.
- Reports this week indicate Shopify is enabling its merchants to buy ChatGPT placements through its Shop Campaigns network.
- Safeguards include excluding sensitive topics, withholding ads from users under 18, and not sharing personal data with advertisers, while rivals such as Anthropic promote an ad‑free stance that has coincided with a post–Super Bowl download surge for Claude and analysts flag fresh ethical and regulatory questions.