OpenAI COO says advertising will be ‘an iterative process’ | TechCrunch

Last month, OpenAI said it will introduce ads for users of the free and Go tiers in ChatGPT. The company introduced ads for US-based users earlier this month, following criticism from rivals such as Anthropic, which published a series of Super Bowl ads.

On the sidelines of the India AI Summit, TechCrunch asked OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap how the company approaches advertising. Lightcap said the process is iterative and the company must properly manage user privacy and trust.

“Well, this will certainly be an iterative process. This is something we’re committed to getting right. What does that look like? It obviously means that we have to keep user trust at a very high level. It means that privacy has to be good,” Lightcap said.

He also noted that ads can add to users’ product experience if done well. He urged to give OpenAI a few months to see how the company does in rolling out the product.

“It really means creating a delightful product experience. We think that well-executed advertising can complement the product experience. So it will have to be iterated, it will take time, but we’re just getting started. So maybe give us a few months and see how it goes,” he said.

Lightcap did not indicate whether the company is currently considering rolling out ads outside the US market.

Earlier this month, Sam Altman hit back at Anthropic with a lengthy post on

“More importantly, we believe everyone deserves to use AI and are committed to free access because we believe access creates freedom of choice. More Texans use ChatGPT for free than the total number of people using Claude in the US, so we have a differently shaped problem than they do,” Altman wrote.

Several sockets have reported that OpenAI is charging $60 for 1,000 impressions, an unusually high rate. Last month, Adweek noted that OpenAI requires $200,000 in minimum commitment from advertisers. Earlier this week, The information reported that Shopify is allowing its merchants to advertise on ChatGPT through the Shop Campaigns ad network, joining early testers such as Target, Williams Sonoma and Adobe.