The option to include advertising in ChatGPT is still being analyzed by OpenAI. Nick Turley, the head of the platform, admitted in an interview with Decoder that the company does not rule out the possibility of adding advertisements: “I am humble enough not to completely rule it out,” he stated. Turley emphasized that it would be essential to incorporate advertising in a cautious and respectful manner, so as not to harm the user experience.
He also mentioned that different products could be created where the inclusion of ads would be more pertinent and, at the same time, emphasized the value of the subscription model, which he considers to be rapidly expanding and with opportunities yet to be explored.
The opinion of OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, on advertising in the company’s main chatbot has been ambivalent. During an event at Harvard Business School, Altman described the combination of ads with artificial intelligence as “particularly unsettling,” suggesting it would be a “last resort” for ChatGPT.
However, in the first episode of the OpenAI podcast in June, he acknowledged that he “does not totally oppose” this possibility. Meanwhile, the competitor xAI, founded by Elon Musk, already intends to incorporate ads into the responses of its Grok model.
The initiative “Commerce in ChatGPT” is another effort thru which OpenAI seeks to diversify and increase its revenue. According to Turley, the program involves the company earning commissions when users purchase products recommended by the chat.
However, Turley emphasized that it is essential for the recommendations to remain independent and free from commercial influences, ensuring that this principle is respected in internal testing: “I believe the essence of ChatGPT is that it selects your products autonomously, without influences, and that must be preserved.”
Turley also addressed the issue of free access for the majority of the seven hundred million ChatGPT users, considering it an effective means to attract subscribers looking for differentiated offers. April records indicate that twenty million people are subscribed.
According to Bloomberg projections, OpenAI anticipates subscription revenues of USD 12.7 billion for this year, a figure significantly higher than the USD 3.7 billion estimated for 2024. However, the company continues to have expenses exceeding its revenue and does not expect to achieve a positive cash balance before 2029.
Negative reactions to the launch of GPT-5
The initial enthusiasm for the introduction of ChatGPT-5 was quickly overshadowed by concerns expressed on social media and tech communities, where the system was described as “cold,” something interpreted as an impediment to achieving closer and more authentic human interactions.
Likewise, the limitation to 200 queries per week generated dissatisfaction both in professional and personal spheres, being considered an unjustified restriction in a tool designed for advanced consultation.
Despite the considerable anticipation surrounding its launch, fueled by promises of more precise and natural conversational interaction—supported by higher-level academic learning—the tech community and users turned that anticipation into sharp criticism following the unveiling of ChatGPT-5 on Thursday, August 7, 2025.
The response from the business sector to the launch of ChatGPT-5 particularly focused on system adaptation and managing the sudden increase in the number of users, which led OpenAI to reevaluate the distribution of its computing capacity and establish new priority criteria on the platform.
Sam Altman, the company’s CEO, publicly addressed the accumulated criticisms after the first days of the model’s implementation. He acknowledged the pointed issues and confirmed the return of a previous version of the artificial intelligence, highly valued by those seeking a more satisfactory consultation experience, with the aim of providing users with customization options.