OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaks at the AI Impact Summit gathering in New Delhi, India on February 19, 2026.
Barwika Chhabra | Reuters
OpenAI has rolled out advertising on ChatGPT for some of its plans in India, one of its largest and most active markets, as the artificial intelligence company looks to maximize revenue ahead of a planned public listing next year.
An OpenAI spokesperson told CNBC in an email that the ads support “broad access to ChatGPT through free and low-cost tiers.” The ads are being rolled out to free users and those on the Go plan, which costs 399 rupees (about $4) per month.
According to information shared by the company, the advertising feature has already been implemented in 38 countries, including the US, Japan, South Korea, and 31 European countries.
“India is one of the largest and most active markets for ChatGPT,” the spokesperson said, adding that OpenAI’s priority is “to learn from our users and advertisers while preserving the experience that made ChatGPT valuable in the first place.”
The company also added that it will not show ads to users it knows are under 18 or whose algorithms predict they are under 18.
OpenAI plans to go public in 2027 and faces pressure to justify its $852 billion valuation ahead of its IPO, especially as some key metrics lag compared to rival Anthropic, which is also preparing to list on the public markets.
Experts say advertising monetization will cover some of the costs for OpenAI to generate inferences for queries, helping the company stem its losses.
Unlike Anthropic, which receives a higher share of revenue from enterprises, OpenAI is more popular among individual consumers, explained Ujjwal Chaudhry, a partner at market intelligence firm Analysis Mason.
Advertisement models are the most effective way to monetize the individual consumer base at scale, Chaudhry said, adding that his company’s data shows online advertising accounts for more than 75% of the $1.18 trillion in total global ad spending. In-app advertising is a $400 billion market.
OpenAI told CNBC that “ads will be clearly labeled, visually separated, and displayed below the answers,” adding that “response independence is non-negotiable.”
Earlier this year, Anthropic criticized OpenAI’s plans to start displaying ads, claiming that its chatbot Claude would remain ad-free. Anthropic said no ads or sponsored links will appear near user conversations, and the chatbot’s answers are not influenced by third-party product placement.
“OpenAI is in a tough spot,” Dan Niles, founder and portfolio manager at Niles Investment Management, told CNBC in June. OpenAI will be squeezed between Anthropic, which focuses on enterprise customers, and Google, which is the “king of the consumer space,” Niles said, adding that Google has plenty of cash flow to fund its ambitions.
The owner of ChatGPT is rolling out managed advertising capabilities in India and plans to launch self-service advertising on September 4. Self-service advertising is popular on many social media platforms because advertisers can use the platform directly to bid on ad impressions, Chaudhry said.
