OpenAI COO says ads will be ‘an iterative process’

Last month, OpenAI said it would serve ads to ChatGPT’s free and Go tier users. The company rolled out ads to US-based users earlier this month amid criticism from competitors like Anthropic, which ran a series of Super Bowl ads.

On the sidelines of the India AI Summit, TechCrunch COO Brad Lightcap, COO of OpenAI, asked how the company approaches advertising. Lightcap said the process is iterative and the company must properly maintain user privacy and trust.

“Well, this will definitely be an iterative process. This is something we are committed to getting right,” Lightcap said. What does that look like? Obviously it means keeping user trust at a very high level. “It means getting privacy right.”

He also noted that ads can add to the product experience for users if implemented correctly. He urged giving OpenAI a few months to see how well the company rolls out the product.

“It really means creating a delightful product experience. We believe that ads done right can be an addition to the product experience. So it’s going to take iterations, and it’s going to take time, but we’re just getting started. So maybe give us a few months and see how it goes.”

Lightcap did not specify whether the company is considering advertising outside the US market at this time.

Earlier this month, Sam Altman responded to Anthropic with a long X post about Super Bowl ads, calling OpenAI’s competitor “dishonest” and accusing them of making an expensive product that caters to “the wealthy.”

“Most importantly, we believe everyone deserves to use AI and are committed to free access, because we believe access creates agency. More Texans use free ChatGPT than the total number of people using Cloud in the US, so we have a problem that’s shaped differently than they do,” Altman wrote.

Several outlets reported that OpenAI charges $60 for 1,000 impressions, an unusually high rate. Last month, Adweek reported that OpenAI is asking for a minimum commitment of $200,000 from advertisers. Earlier this week, The Information reported that Shopify is allowing its merchants to advertise on ChatGPT through its Shopping Campaigns ad network, joining early testers like Target, Williams Sonoma, and Adobe.