ChatGPT is now doing what Sam Altman called a 'last resort' only two years ago
- Jan 21
- 1 min read
“I kind of think of ads as like a last resort for us as a business model,” Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI, said back in 2024.
Fast forward to January 2026 and OpenAI has seemingly reached that last resort. The San Francisco-based AI research company announced Friday that it will be introducing ads on its free bot service ChatGPT and the lowest tier of its paid subscription service ChatGPT Go.
Altman had always portrayed OpenAI’s resistance to deriving revenue from advertising as a high-minded refusal to compromise on his company’s commitment to independence and trustworthiness, staying true to its original aim of being a nonprofit organization.
But in some respects, OpenAI is simply bowing to the inevitable demands of the marketplace with its apparent U-turn.
Read the full story | MarketWatch
