OpenAI Rolls Out ChatGPT Ads in India, Expanding to 38 Countries

OpenAI has launched advertising on ChatGPT in India, one of the chatbot's largest and most active markets. The ads will be shown to free users and to subscribers of the Go plan, which costs 399 rupees (about $4) per month.

A company spokesperson said the ads are intended to help more people use ChatGPT through free and low-cost plans, while stressing that OpenAI's priority is to protect the core value of the ChatGPT experience. The company will learn from both users and advertisers as it develops the feature. OpenAI will not display ads to users who self-report being under 18 or who are predicted by its algorithms to be under 18.

Beyond India, ChatGPT ads have now been rolled out in 38 countries and territories, including the United States, Japan, South Korea, and 31 European countries.

OpenAI, which is planning an initial public offering in 2027 and is valued at $852 billion, has introduced managed ads in India and intends to launch a self-serve advertising service on September 4, 2026. The company said that ads will be clearly labelled, visually separated, and placed below responses, and that the independence of answers will not be compromised.

Anthropic, in response to OpenAI's advertising plans, has said its chatbot Claude will remain ad-free. Users will not see ads or sponsored links near conversations, and Claude's answers will not be influenced by third-party product placements.