OpenAI has criticized app suggestions that look like ads

ChatGPT’s unwelcome suggestion of a Peloton app during the chat led to some backlash from OpenAI customers. People were afraid of advertising, even to paying customers. However, OpenAI clarified that the app suggestion was not an ad, but instead a poor attempt to integrate app discovery into conversations.

In a post on What’s worse is that Gene pointed out that he was a paid subscriber to the $200/month ChatGPT Professional plan. At this price point, you wouldn’t expect ads.

The post, which has been reshared and saved hundreds of times across X, received a lot of attention, as it seemed to indicate that OpenAI was testing the inclusion of ads in its paid product. Users have complained that paying customers, in particular, shouldn’t see app suggestions like this.

One person also noted that they couldn’t get ChatGPT to stop recommending Spotify to them, even though they’re Apple Music subscribers.

Daniel McCauley, OpenAI data lead for ChatGPT, later jumped into the thread to clarify that the Peloton spot was not an ad; It was “just a suggestion to install the Peloton app.” He said there was “no financial element” to the emergence of the application proposal.

However, he admitted that the “lack of relevance” of the conversation made it a poor and confusing experience, and OpenAI was duplicating suggestions and user experience.

A company spokesperson also confirmed to TechCrunch that what users discovered was one of the methods OpenAI took to “test applications appearing in ChatGPT conversations.” They pointed to OpenAI’s October announcement of its new app platform, where the company noted that apps would “fit naturally” into user conversations.

“You can find out [apps] When ChatGPT suggests someone at the right time, or by calling them by name. The publication explained that the applications respond to natural language and include interactive interfaces that you can use directly in chat.

But that does not seem to be the case here, as the user claims that he did not discuss anything related to health and fitness. Instead, as the screenshot shows, they were talking with AI about a podcast featuring Elon Musk, where AI was the topic being discussed. Bringing Peloton into this experience was unhelpful and distracting.

However, even if the app suggestion is relevant, users may still view it as an ad, since it directs people to a product from a company that is not free. Additionally, users cannot turn off these app suggestions, which may make them feel more intrusive.

These user sentiments could have potential implications for OpenAI’s desire to replace the App Store experience, and the apps that run on your phone, with integrated apps that run inside ChatGPT. If users don’t want to see app suggestions, they can choose to switch to a competitor’s chatbot to avoid them.

Currently, ChatGPT apps are available to logged in users outside the EU, Switzerland, and the UK, and integrations are still in beta testing. OpenAI partners with a number of app makers, including Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Figma, Expedia, Zillow, and others.