OpenAI brings ChatGPT ads to 26 more countries, reaching 89 markets

OpenAI says ads help support free and low-cost access to ChatGPT. Now that bargain is reaching more users: the company announced on October 21 that it will add advertising in 26 countries, taking availability to 89. Both free users and paying Go subscribers in the new markets will begin seeing the placements, CNBC reported.

A paid plan does not always mean ad-free

The newly added countries include Argentina, Peru, Nigeria, South Africa and Ukraine. OpenAI said users on the Free and Go plans there will start seeing ads within ChatGPT. The expansion therefore reaches two groups: people using the service without a subscription and those already paying for its Go tier.

That distinction follows the policy OpenAI described in its September 23 regional rollout announcement: Free and Go users can receive advertising, while Plus, Pro and Enterprise subscriptions remain ad-free. OpenAI frames advertising as a way to support wider access to its service, rather than a feature reserved only for accounts that pay nothing.

The company says the ads are clearly labeled, sit separately from ChatGPT’s responses and do not influence its answers. Those are OpenAI’s assurances about how the product works. They distinguish the paid placement from the chatbot’s answer, even when both appear within the same service.

In its September statement, OpenAI also said it keeps conversations private from advertisers and never sells customer data. Users have controls over ad personalization, the company said. Its stated approach combines those controls with the option of an ad-free paid plan, rather than making every subscription an escape from advertising.

From a US test to an international business

OpenAI began testing ChatGPT ads in the United States in February. By September 23, it was adding Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan, and said advertising was available in more than 60 countries. The latest announcement extends that geographic rollout rather than introducing advertising to ChatGPT for the first time.

Alongside the October expansion, OpenAI said more than 100,000 advertisers have run campaigns on the platform. That is a cumulative participation figure, not a count of advertisers currently running campaigns. It gives another measure of adoption alongside revenue, without showing how much any individual advertiser spends or whether it returns.

The revenue milestone is also a measure of pace: an annualized run rate expresses revenue at a yearly rate, not a full year of collected sales. OpenAI’s September announcement said the business had reached the billion-dollar rate in less than 200 days after launch. Advertising joins enterprise contracts, consumer subscriptions and usage-based developer services in OpenAI’s business.

Reaching people while they weigh a purchase

OpenAI’s pitch to advertisers centers on the conversations people have while making decisions. In September, it described users planning trips, choosing business software or furnishing homes, explaining their goals and constraints along the way. The company argues that relevant products and services can be useful while people explore those options.

The next phase is intended to give businesses more ways to use that channel. OpenAI said on October 21 that it plans additional ad formats, measurement capabilities and buying options. It is also exploring new ways for businesses to interact natively with ChatGPT consumers. Those remain development plans, distinct from the confirmed expansion into 26 additional countries.