OpenAI has clarified that there are currently no advertisements or advertising tests live in ChatGPT. However, the company’s chief research officer, Mark Chen, admitted that recent promotional messages were not up to par and that improvements are being made.
Chen and other executives at OpenAI addressed concerns from paying subscribers of ChatGPT who were unhappy with seeing promotional messages for companies like Peloton and Target.
The company explained that they were only testing ways to showcase apps built on the ChatGPT app platform that was introduced in October, with no financial incentives involved in these tests. Despite this clarification, some users remained skeptical about the nature of these messages.
ChatGPT head Nick Turley also addressed the rumors surrounding ads in ChatGPT, reassuring users that there are no live tests for ads and any screenshots suggesting otherwise are either inaccurate or not related to advertisements. Turley emphasized the company’s commitment to maintaining users’ trust and ensuring that any future advertising endeavors would be respectful of this trust.
Despite these statements, Mark Chen acknowledged the need for better handling of anything that resembles an ad, admitting that the company had fallen short in this aspect. As a result, the suggestive messages have been turned off temporarily to enhance the model’s accuracy, with plans to introduce better controls for users to customize their experience.
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Earlier this year, Fidji Sumo, a former executive at Instacart and Facebook, joined OpenAI as the CEO of Applications, sparking speculations about the company’s potential foray into advertising. However, recent reports indicated that OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, has prioritized efforts to enhance ChatGPT’s quality, putting advertising initiatives on hold for the time being.
