ChatGPT head says screenshots of ChatGPT ads are “either not real or not ads”; OpenAI's research chief says “anything that feels like an ad” is now turned off
Paid ChatGPT users recently reported seeing a prompt labeled “Shop for home and groceries.
The Decoder Matthias Bastian
Related Coverage
- Were you already seeing ads in ChatGPT? OpenAI pulls down a key feature after backlash from users Livemint · Aman Gupta
- OpenAI says it's turned off app suggestions that look like ads TechCrunch · Anthony Ha
- Users say they are seeing ads on ChatGPT. OpenAI says it's not true. Business Insider · Lakshmi Varanasi
- ChatGPT has been testing recommendations to use apps from Peloton, Target and others which has led to complaints from subscribers that these are ads. — The company has turned off the feature but disputes these are ads as they are not paid placements. — https://the-decoder.com/... @carnage4life@mas.to · Dare Obasanjo
Discussion
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@nickaturley
Nick Turley
on x
I'm seeing lots of confusion about ads rumors in ChatGPT. There are no live tests for ads - any screenshots you've seen are either not real or not ads. If we do pursue ads, we'll take a thoughtful approach. People trust ChatGPT and anything we do will be designed to respect that.
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@yuchenj_uw
Yuchen Jin
on x
“Yeah, that's an ad.” “for a user, it walks, talks, and smells like an ad.” — ChatGPT 5.1 Thinking [image]
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@thedataroom
@thedataroom
on x
The #keep4o movement has been warning about the degradation of ChatGPT for months (long time in the AI space) As well as the bad treatment and disturbing attitude from (some) OpenAI employees
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@yuchenj_uw
Yuchen Jin
on x
This is a bad response from the Head of ChatGPT. Instead of owning the confusing UI, you're saying, “Trust me bro, the screenshots are either fake or you're dumb if you think it's an ad.” You lose users' trust this way, especially now that strong alternatives like Gemini exist. […
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@alignpoe
Poe
on x
> be OpenAI customer > pay premium for that sweet AI magic > notice model acting weird > get labeled “delusional” by staff for complaining > mfw “it's just your imagination” > spot blatant ad mid-convo > point it out like “hey, that's an ad right?” > OpenAI exec: “any
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@dedene
Peter Dedene
on x
@Yuchenj_UW Gaslighting your users is a bold strategy.
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@danadvantage
Dan Advantage
on x
@Yuchenj_UW “or not ads” they are “app links” not ads. nothing but respect for these pioneers but still, imagine being a shiteating exec who can only talk double
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@benjamindekr
Benjamin De Kraker
on x
@nickaturley “It's not an ad if we just keep repeating that it's not an ad.” You guys literally announced a partnership with Target right before this. You're handling this very badly and people are noticing. [image]
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@hobo_web
Shaun Anderson
on x
Ads in ChatGPT are hallucinations at this time
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@trishlaostwal
@trishlaostwal
on x
head of ChatGPT pushes back on screenshots claiming ads in ChatGPT: “There are no live tests for ads — any screenshots you've seen are either not real or not ads.”
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@omooretweets
Olivia Moore
on x
OpenAI is in an interesting situation here (re: ads) Best in class ads monetization (Meta) is ~$250 per year for U.S. users, which is roughly equal to the ChatGPT Plus ARPU So, you could serve ads just to free users, or even double revenue from paid users If their commerce