OpenAI’s plan to bring ads into ChatGPT is moving ahead, even though this idea once made CEO Sam Altman uneasy. The company appears to be laying the groundwork for ads inside chats, and these changes raise new questions about how users will experience the free tier.
Reports already said OpenAI was weighing ads for free users, and now new findings strengthen that direction. Code in the latest Android beta shows clear references to ad support, which points toward preparation rather than early experimentation.
Early code reveals
A Harvard Business School talk last year set the tone when Sam Altman called the mix of ads and AI “uniquely unsettling” and a “last resort.” Yet he also admitted he was “not totally against them.” That line gave people room to guess the company’s next steps. As Engadget highlighted, the comments left the door open.
Soon after, The Information reported that OpenAI was considering ads inside user chats. Then things moved faster. Tibor Blaho spotted hard evidence in the Android 1.2025.329 beta, where strings like “ads feature,” “search ad,” and “bazaar content” appeared throughout the code. These discoveries suggest that OpenAI has already built the basic plumbing.
iPhone users get a clean escape
While ads in the free ChatGPT app feel inevitable, iPhone users hold one simple workaround. You can still reach ChatGPT through Siri whenever Siri cannot answer your question. This fallback request runs through Apple’s agreement with OpenAI, and that setup keeps these sessions free from training use. It also keeps them free from ads.
Because Apple controls Siri’s environment, the company will not allow paid placements or injected ads in those fallback answers. So once ads appear inside the Android and iOS ChatGPT apps, iPhone users who avoid the app can still get clean, ad-free responses every time they route a query through Siri.
A split experience is coming
This shift creates two paths. One path takes you through the official ChatGPT apps, where ads will soon live. The other path lets you trigger ChatGPT indirectly on your iPhone through Siri, which keeps the experience simple and clean. Both options give you access to the same model, but only one shields you from the ad rollout.
As OpenAI prepares its next phase, the iPhone escape remains an easy and reliable option. Let us know in the comments what you think about this change.
