ChatGPT will test ads during image generation

OpenAI will test a new visual ad format in ChatGPT, placing ads on screen while users generate images. The test is set to begin in the US later this month with an initial group of advertisers.

The format is designed for images that show a product, how it is used or an experience connected to a service. OpenAI has not published examples of the ads in a live ChatGPT session, so it is not yet clear how much space they will take up or where they will appear in the image-generation interface.

The company says ads will be labeled and kept separate from the image ChatGPT creates. That means an ad should appear alongside the image-generation experience, not inside the finished image. OpenAI also says advertising will not influence ChatGPT’s answers.

The company says its ad-placement safeguards are meant to keep ads out of sensitive or otherwise unsuitable conversations. Those safeguards will also be reviewed in a controlled test by advertising-industry partners, according to OpenAI. The company says the reviewers will not access users’ private conversations.