OpenAI to test visual ads alongside ChatGPT image results

OpenAI will begin a U.S. test later this month that places clearly labeled images for sponsored products and services alongside ChatGPT image-generation results. The company says the ads will be kept separate from the image a person asked ChatGPT to make and will not affect its answers. This expands an ad program OpenAI first tested in the United States for logged-in adults on its Free and Go plans, while paid and business tiers have remained ad-free. The practical shift is that ChatGPT is becoming not only a tool for making or researching things, but also a place where brands can reach people while they are visualizing an idea—a new revenue stream for OpenAI that makes the boundary between help and marketing more important.