# Our approach to advertising and expanding access to ChatGPT | OpenAI

<https://openai.com/index/our-approach-to-advertising-and-expanding-access/>

- Host: [openai.com](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/hosts/openai.com/)
- Saved: January 20, 2026 (2026-01-20T14:20:37Z)
- Record: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/8df406a4a082/
- JSON: https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/8df406a4a082.json

## What Jamie wrote

Remember how ads first came to search results and the search companies had all of this highfalutin talk about not impacting results, keeping clear separation, don't be evil and all that ridiculousness. I was hopeful that we wouldn't recreate the original sin of the web with AI. We know better now right? Sadly no, and I’m a fool for thinking it wouldn't have. 

This is all positioned as lowering the barrier and bringing AI to more people. Okay, I can’t argue that isn't the case. [ChatGPT Go](https://openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-go/) at $8/month is going to give more people access. However, this just isn't the whole story. 

ChatGPT is adding ads for the same reason Netflix just did — it unlocks the top end of your revenue. If I have 1,000 users paying $20 a month that is it. It takes effort and product benefits to upsell them. But if I have 1,000 users paying $8 a month plus ads? My maximum revenue is now based on how I monetize them. And just like that we've started the [enshittification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification) train.

Hypergrowth doesn't merge well with "a reasonable fee paid for defined value". So, yeah, I shouldn't be surprised we are here. But I can still be bothered and a bit sad by it.

We already know that search results are skewed by advertising. How will we possibly ever know that AI interactions are not?

## Facts

- Kind: [Page](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/kinds/page/)

## Appears in

- [WT338: Weekly Thing 338 / Authority, Humanizer, Left](https://weekly.thingelstad.com/archive/338/), Notable

## Mentions

- [Introducing ChatGPT Go, now available worldwide | OpenAI](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/links/ff09ff177cfb/) (openai.com, January 20, 2026)

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## Elsewhere

- Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://openai.com/index/our-approach-to-advertising-and-expanding-access/