OpenAI: ads in ChatGPT are needed "so that all of humanity benefits from AGI"
Samantha Jacobson of OpenAI stated at Advertising Week: ads in ChatGPT are "for the benefit of all humanity," and user trust matters more than revenue.
Ads in ChatGPT exist "so that all of humanity can benefit from AGI." This statement was made by Samantha Jacobson, OpenAI's vice president of monetization partnerships, on an Advertising Week New York panel, Digiday reports.
The thesis came in response to a question about consumer privacy and trust. OpenAI's logic repeats a familiar pattern from the advertising market: ads cover the audience that isn't ready to pay for a subscription. "Not everyone will be able to pay," Jacobson said.
What analogy did OpenAI draw?
Jacobson compared the ChatGPT model to Paramount's pricing tiers: subscribers to the streaming service choose a plan based on the amount of advertising they're willing to watch. Several seats down on the same stage sat Derek Michael, head of advertising technology at Skydance, Paramount's owner.
The difference, however, is significant. A pre-roll on Paramount costs the viewer a few minutes of time. Free ChatGPT requests something more personal: ads are tailored to what exactly the user asks, and if personalization hasn't been manually disabled — to signals from the user's entire behavior in the product.
Why is trust OpenAI's main currency?
Generations raised on the free internet have learned the rule: if you're not paying for the product, you are the product. It's precisely this lesson that forces OpenAI to build a delicate balance into its deal with users.
Jacobson emphasized the company's priorities: "Consumer trust is the most important thing." According to her, OpenAI is prepared to protect it "even at the cost of revenue or other partnership opportunities."
What does this mean for advertisers?
OpenAI's statements set a framework for marketers planning placements inside ChatGPT:
- Targeting is based on the context of user queries and, optionally, on data about their use of the product.
- Users can disable personalization — this reduces targeting accuracy.
- OpenAI has publicly declared its willingness to sacrifice revenue for the sake of trust — meaning the most aggressive ad formats may not get the green light.
For now, OpenAI sticks to the classic rhetoric of "ads finance accessibility," but it's precisely the personal nature of ChatGPT's data that makes its deal with users more vulnerable to criticism than that of streaming services.
Source: Digiday
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