OpenAI announced Friday that it plans to begin testing advertisements within ChatGPT in the coming weeks, a move that represents a significant change for the widely used artificial intelligence product. The initial ad tests will be rolled out in the United States before expanding globally.

According to OpenAI, the advertisements will not influence ChatGPT's responses. Instead, all ads will appear in clearly labeled boxes located directly below the chatbot's generated answer. As an example, if a user asks ChatGPT for assistance in planning a trip to New York City, they will receive a standard, AI-generated response, followed by a separate advertisement, potentially for a hotel in the area.

Fidji Simo, CEO of applications at OpenAI, stated in a blog post that as the company introduces ads, it is crucial to preserve the core value of ChatGPT. "People trust ChatGPT for many important and personal tasks, so as we introduce ads, it’s crucial we preserve what makes ChatGPT valuable in the first place," Simo wrote. "That means you need to trust that ChatGPTs responses are driven by whats objectively useful, never by advertising."

The first advertisements will be displayed to logged-in users on ChatGPT's free tier, as well as its $8-per-month Go tier, which began rolling out to users in the United States on Friday. The introduction of advertising marks a new phase in the monetization strategy for OpenAI, which has invested heavily in developing and deploying its AI models. The move comes as the company seeks to balance the need for revenue generation with the user experience and the integrity of its AI-driven responses. The company will likely be closely monitoring user feedback and ad performance as it considers further expansion of the advertising program.