ChatGPT's New Money Machine Heats Up, "Lights Up" in Testing Phase

OpenAI is beginning to find a new source of revenue from ChatGPT. Through an advertising business trial that started in February 2026, the company has now earned more than $100 million US, or around Rp 1.6 trillion, in less than two months. This revenue serves as an early signal that ChatGPT has the potential to become a new “money machine” for OpenAI. Moreover, the changes are starting to transform the strategy from a non-profit model towards monetising services. An OpenAI spokesperson stated that this achievement was obtained through partnerships with more than 600 advertisers. The trial is being conducted on a limited basis in the United States, specifically for users of the free ChatGPT version and the ChatGPT Go package. In terms of reach, about 85 percent of users qualify to see ads. However, fewer than 20 percent of users actually see them every day. “We are in the early testing phase of ads in ChatGPT, and the current goal is to learn and refine the experience for consumers before expanding it,” said the OpenAI spokesperson, quoted by KompasTekno from CNBC. After the trial in the United States, OpenAI plans to expand ad implementation to several other countries, including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This step is part of the company’s strategy to broaden revenue sources amid the high costs of developing artificial intelligence technology. In its implementation, OpenAI emphasises that ads will not disrupt users’ conversations with ChatGPT. Ads are displayed separately, usually at the bottom of the interface after a response is given. The content is also labelled as sponsored and does not affect the AI-generated answers. OpenAI claims that responses remain neutral and are not dictated by advertisers’ interests. Additionally, ads will not appear in conversations on sensitive topics, such as health, mental conditions, or politics. Users under 18 years old will also not be shown ads. The company also provides options for users to disable ad personalisation or manually delete ad-related data. With this significant early achievement, the trial demonstrates ChatGPT’s great potential as a new revenue source for OpenAI. Going forward, the success of this strategy will greatly depend on balancing monetisation and user experience.