• by Laurie Sullivan , February 9, 2026

OpenAI began to roll out ads in ChatGPT to a portion of users in the "Free" and "Go" subscription tiers with test partners in the United States.

Adobe expanded its partnership with OpenAI as a pilot partner in the Ad Pilot Program, and is now testing with logged-in users 18 years and older in the U.S. on the free and Go tiers.

This announcement builds on Adobe’s ongoing partnership with OpenAI. The company recently introduced Photoshop, Express and Acrobat Apps for ChatGPT.

As part of the pilot, Adobe also will run ads for Acrobat Studio and Adobe Firefly, in partnership with its advertising agency, WPP Plc.

The ads also are drawing interest from major advertising agencies and their clients.

Omnicom Media, an Omnicom Connected Capability, also announced it has secured ad placements for more than 30 of its clients in the OpenAI Ad Pilot Program. Customers are in apparel, automotive, beauty, CPG, hospitality, retail, QSR, technology, and telecommunications. 

“In an era where discovery is more personal than ever, the introduction of ads in ChatGPT creates a new way for brands to introduce products and services that consumers might not otherwise encounter through organic interactions alone -- appearing at a moment when engagement and relevance are inherently high,” stated Omnicom Media chief commercial officer Justin Wroe.

OpenAI will not give advertisers access to user chats, chat history, memories, or personal details. Advertisers only will receive aggregate information about how their ads perform such as number of views or clicks.

Users under the age of 18 during testing will not see ads. Privacy safeguards will restrict ads from serving up near sensitive or regulated topics like health, mental health or politics.

"Ads are labeled as sponsored and visually separate from the response," OpenAI wrote in a post on X. The goal, the company wrote, is to give all users access to ChatGPT for free with fewer limits, while protecting the trust they place in the platform for important and personal tasks.

Guardrails to prevent narrow ad-targeting to reduce the risk of scams and other harmful or misleading ads have been put in place.

OpenAI said ads will not influence answers that ChatGPT returns. Answers are optimized based on what the algorithms deem most helpful to the query.

The advertisements are matched by using information received from advertisers. The responses are based on topics of conversation, past chats, and interactions with ads. For example, if someone researches a recipe, they may see ads for meal kits or grocery delivery. If there are multiple advertisers, the one most relevant to the chat will serve first.

Users can control the ads seen in ChatGPT, including dismissing ads, sharing feedback, learning how and why certain ads serve up, as well as the ability to delete ad data, and manage ad personalization.