According to a new report from The Information, OpenAI is seeking $60 per 1,000 views ($60 CPM) for ads in ChatGPT. The company reportedly won’t offer much in the way of performance measurement at launch, with data described as “high-level.”
The pricing news follows OpenAI’s announcement earlier this month that it will begin testing ads inside ChatGPT in the coming weeks—a major shift for the company and its clearest move yet into advertising.
The tests will initially run in the U.S. for users on the free tier and the $8-per-month ChatGPT Go subscription, while higher-priced Pro, Business, and Enterprise plans will remain ad-free. Ads will appear at the bottom of responses when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service, will be clearly labeled, and will be excluded from sensitive categories like health, mental health, and politics.
Why This Matters:
The initial framing around pricing is tricky for OpenAI. Some media outlets have described the CPM as “triple what ads on Meta’s platform usually cost” or “TV-level prices,” positioning it as excessive.
But ChatGPT isn’t launching ads as just another scaled feed. It’s introducing advertising into a high-intent, conversational environment where users are actively asking questions and completing tasks. OpenAI has also been explicit about limiting ad volume, protecting answer independence, and prioritizing trust.
Seen in that context, pushing for premium pricing isn’t surprising. The company is trying to set an early benchmark for how ads inside gen-AI assistants might be valued, even if scale and measurement are intentionally limited at the outset.
Experts React:
The ad and adtech industry had a range of reactions to the reported pricing, including:
Our Take:
Ultimately, the price is… whatever advertisers are willing to pay. And right now, there’s clear demand, not just to be first for first’s sake, but to secure early access to one of the first scaled gen-AI ad environments and begin understanding how these formats can perform, even with limited data.
As Ken Lagana, CRO at SSP Media.net, put it, ads in ChatGPT “underscore a broader shift: advertising is moving closer to moments of intent, not just moments of reach.” If that’s what the industry wants, it’s going to have to pay for it.
