OpenAI is expanding its advertising business for ChatGPT into Europe, launching in 31 markets including Switzerland on Monday, August 24. The initiative follows a six-month pilot in the United States, where the program has grown into a global platform used by tens of thousands of advertisers.
The company will integrate ads into the free tier of ChatGPT while maintaining a clear visual separation between sponsored content and organic responses. Ads will appear below a gray divider line beneath the AI-generated answer, with the interface designed to distinguish promotional material from conversational output, OpenAI said.
Privacy protections remain a priority, according to Dave Dugan, OpenAI’s Vice President of Ads. He emphasized that advertisers will not gain access to user chat histories, stating that conversation data will not be shared with third parties. This approach aims to address concerns from users who may share sensitive or personal information with the AI assistant.
Users seeking an ad-free experience can subscribe to ChatGPT’s paid tiers. The Plus plan, priced at approximately €23 per month in Europe, removes ads while the Pro tier, costing €229 monthly, offers additional features. The entry-level ChatGPT Go plan, at around €7 per month, remains ad-supported.
The shift toward advertising reflects OpenAI’s broader strategy to diversify revenue amid high operational costs for its AI models. With over 80% of ChatGPT’s monthly active users—totaling more than one billion—still relying on the free version, the company is leveraging ads and lower-cost subscriptions to monetize this large user base. The expansion into Europe follows the company’s earlier decision to adopt an ad-supported model, a move that CEO Sam Altman had previously opposed but later endorsed as a viable revenue stream.
For the European launch, OpenAI has partnered with major advertising agencies including Publicis, WPP, Omnicom, MediaPlus, and Havas. A self-service tool for smaller businesses and freelancers is also planned for release in the coming months.
