OpenAI has ruled out running adverts on its platforms, for now at least, Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has told The Register.
While distasteful for users accustomed to the lofty ideals espoused by OpenAI during its early years, the move would make sense, considering reports the AI developer is trying to restructure as a for-profit entity.
There are paying subscribers to its services, yet given OpenAI’s dominance in the generative artificial intelligence space, adding ads to some of its services may be tempting to the corporation’s commercial strategists.
“Our current business is experiencing rapid growth, and we see significant opportunities within our existing business model. While we’re open to exploring other revenue streams in the future, we have no active plans to pursue advertising,” Friar told us in a statement.
This is somewhat different to previous comments from Friar reported by the Financial Times earlier today, with the CFO telling the newspaper that OpenAI would be “thoughtful about when and where we implement them [advertisements].”
Given investments in OpenAI, said to value the company at $157 billion, it is difficult to imagine the biz not thinking about ways of upping its top line. Google, for example, generates the lion share of its money from ads, and, considering the reach of the OpenAI’s ChatGPT bot and introduction of the SearchGPT AI search engine, bolstering the company’s income with an ad model would seem logical, albeit unwelcome by users unaccustomed to it.
While Friar said there were no active plans, OpenAI has hired individuals with marketing skills and experience in building ad platforms. Kevin Weil was appointed Chief Product Officer in June 2024, after working on product and marketing for both Instagram and Twitter. Shivakumar Venkataraman joined as VP in May 2024 having spent more than 20 years at Google, including a lengthy stint working on ads in the company’s services.
OpenAI has shed several high-profile staffers in recent months. The CTO, Mira Murati, announced her departure in September 2024, along with two other execs, Bob McGrew and Barret Zoph. Sam Alton, temporarily ousted as CEO in November 2023, is now one of the last two remaning founders at the business.
Back in September, Gartner analyst Jason Wong told The Register: “It’s clear with the departures of the co-founders, and high-profile engineering leaders, that OpenAI is being remade with Sam’s vision. His manifesto and the shift to a for-profit entity also reinforces his vision for the business.”
OpenAI continues to burn through investor cash as it builds AI models. This approach is not compatible with a for-profit model, and investors will want a return on their investment at some point, even if Elon Musk is taking steps to stop OpenAI moving toward an entirely for-profit business. ®
