DistantNews
Support us
Ads to Appear in ChatGPT for Free and 'Go' Users in Europe and Switzerland Starting August
🇱🇹 Lithuania /Technology

Ads to Appear in ChatGPT for Free and 'Go' Users in Europe and Switzerland Starting August

From Delfi · () Lithuanian

Translated from Lithuanian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Official statement New plan
  • ChatGPT's free and 'Go' plan users in the European Economic Area and Switzerland will start seeing ads later this month.
  • Only subscribers to these plans will see ads; 'Plus', 'Pro', 'Business', 'Enterprise', and 'Education' accounts will remain ad-free.
  • OpenAI began testing ads in the US in February 2026 and has since rolled them out to the UK, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, and South Korea.

Users of the free and 'Go' tiers of OpenAI's ChatGPT in the European Economic Area, including Lithuania, and Switzerland will soon encounter advertisements within their chat interactions. The company's Irish affiliate sent out an email notification stating that ads will begin appearing later in August.

This rollout specifically targets 'Free' and 'Go' plan subscribers. Higher-tier plans, including 'Plus', 'Pro', 'Business', 'Enterprise', and 'Education', will not feature advertisements. OpenAI first trialed ads in the United States on February 9, 2026, initially for adult users on the 'Free' and 'Go' plans. The company has since expanded ad displays to the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, and South Korea by August 11, 2026.

Ads are clearly marked, and the company emphasizes that they do not affect the artificial intelligence's responses.

— OpenAIRegarding the display and impact of advertisements within ChatGPT.

For users in the European Union and the UK, personalized ads will only be shown after explicit user consent, a different approach compared to the US where ads are displayed by default but users can opt out. Updated privacy policies detail that conversational context, user interaction with ads, and user memory stored by ChatGPT may be used for ad selection, provided users meet the criteria. Users can adjust ad personalization settings and delete ad-related data at any time.

OpenAI emphasizes that ads are clearly marked and do not influence ChatGPT's responses. Advertisers will not have direct access to user conversations, chat history, or stored memory. OpenAI manages ad selection using contextual signals without revealing conversation content to advertisers. Since ChatGPT's launch in 2022, OpenAI's valuation has surged to an estimated $860 billion, with projections of reaching a trillion-dollar valuation. However, the company is rapidly investing in the powerful computing resources required to maintain its services.

Advertisers will not have direct access to users' conversations.

— OpenAIExplaining the data privacy measures related to ad targeting.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Delfi in Lithuanian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog