In this episode, host Alex Carlson breaks down the arrival of ads inside ChatGPT, tracing Sam Altman's rapid pivot from calling ads a "last resort" in 2024 to launching them February 9, 2026. Alex covers the premium pricing ($60 CPMs, $200K minimum buy), early brand partners, user backlash, Anthropic's Super Bowl counter-ad, an OpenAI researcher's resignation in protest, and what the trust question at the center of AI advertising means for marketers at every level.

KeywordsChatGPT Ads, OpenAI Advertising, Sam Altman, Anthropic Super Bowl Ad, Claude AI, CPM Pricing, Answer Engine Optimization, AEO, High Intent Advertising, Sponsored Recommendations, AI Marketing, Trust in AI, Generative Engine Optimization, Free Tier Monetization, Digital Advertising Strategy

Key Takeaways

Ad Basics & Pricing

• Ads officially launched February 9, 2026 for US users on the Free and Go tiers only
• Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education subscribers remain completely ad-free
• CPMs starting at approximately $60 — nearly three times a typical Meta or social ad CPM
• Minimum buy of $200,000 makes this an enterprise-only play for now, excluding small businesses and solo agencies
• Early brand partners include Adobe, Amazon Audible, Target, Ford, HelloFresh, and Mazda
• WPP Media running campaigns for Ford and Mazda among other large advertisers
• Only approximately 5% of ChatGPT's 800 million weekly users actually pay for a subscription
• OpenAI frames ads as necessary to fund democratic access to high-quality AI for free users
• Getting in early to a new ad marketplace has historically offered significant arbitrage advantages

The Altman Pivot

• In 2024, Sam Altman specifically called ads a "last resort" for the company
• By end of 2024, executives were already on record weighing ads as a revenue option
• September 2025, OpenAI actively recruited for a head of advertising role
• Represents a dramatic shift in under a year from anti-ads to full ad deployment
• Altman responded to Anthropic's Super Bowl ad by citing ChatGPT's larger user base versus Claude

Backlash & Industry Reaction

• 68% of Reddit commenters expressed negative sentiment toward the ads announcement
• OpenAI researcher Zoe Hitzig resigned specifically over the decision, warning that OpenAI had accumulated an "archive of human candor" from deeply personal user conversations
• Anthropic ran a Super Bowl commercial showing users hilariously derailed by absurd AI ads, with the message that ads would never come to Claude
• Demis Hassabis of Google DeepMind said he was "a little surprised" OpenAI moved this early
• Marketing community is cautiously optimistic despite the high cost of entry
• Forrester survey found 83% of users would accept ads for continued free tier access — complaining about ads and actually leaving the product are two very different behaviors

What This Means for Marketers

• The high-intent purchase environment inside ChatGPT is genuinely unique compared to other ad channels
• Users are actively mid-conversation and mid-decision when ads appear, not passively scrolling a feed
• For enterprise marketers with budget, getting in early is strongly advisable while competition is low
• For small business and solo marketers, the focus right now should be organic AI presence through Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
• AI search presence differs from traditional SEO — it leans more toward citations and brand mentions than keywords
• The central trust challenge: ChatGPT is the one making the recommendation, not the advertiser — unlike Google where the advertiser's landing page did the convincing, making the line between advice and sponsored advice thinner than ever

Sources: