The era of free AI is coming to an end: Ads will appear in the free version of ChatGPT

Soon, free use of ChatGPT may no longer be completely ad-free. According to Engadget, fragments of code have been found in the beta version of the Android ChatGPT app that strongly hint at the future introduction of advertising.

What was found in the code

• The discovery was shared by Tibor Blaho on X (formerly Twitter). In beta version 1.2025.329 of the ChatGPT app for Android, strings were found that directly mention advertising features, search ads, and content from marketplaces.
• This discovery follows an earlier report from The Information published earlier this month, which stated that OpenAI was considering integrating advertising into ChatGPT based on users’ chat history.
• At the same time, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has previously expressed caution about advertising, calling it a last resort for the company’s business model.

Later, in the first episode of the OpenAI podcast, Altman confirmed that the company is not opposed to embedding advertising, but has not yet decided on the exact method.

Although the lines of code found do not reveal where exactly the advertising will be placed, the most likely scenario is its integration into the free version of ChatGPT.

This tier already has limitations on the number of messages, memory function, and overall reasoning power. 

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