ChatGPT for Android is about to be low-key flooded with ads

What you need to know

• A report claims that OpenAI could start showing ads in its ChatGPT on Android in a future update.
• Early code directly mentions an "ads feature," as well as carousels that could display these ads for users, though speculation states they might not appear in one-on-one chats.
• These ads could be produced based on what the AI remembers about the user, bringing that personalized aspect to them.
• A previous ChatGPT update for Android brought Spotify into the mix, giving users the ability to task the AI in playing music or finding new songs.

OpenAI's chatbot on Android is supposedly headed down an ad-filled direction that users might not enjoy.

A deep dive into the ChatGPT app on Android was conducted by Tibor Blaho, who posted their discovery of the chance for ads to greet users (via NotebookCheck). Blaho states they discovered an "ads feature" in the early code of a ChatGPT app beta for Android users. The code contains quite a few mentions of advertisements to hit the app, such as "AdTarget," "SearchAd," "ApiAdTarget," and more. Blaho directly mentions other code mentions, like "bazaar content" and "search ads carousel."

So, while it seems that the ChatGPT app on Android is staring at an ad-filled future on Android, the X post went into more detail, stating this has been in the plans for a while.

A subsequent post highlights a post from October by The Information, which highlights OpenAI's ever-shifting stance on ads in the app. Supposedly, OpenAI is "considering whether ChatGPT could show ads based on its memory or the information it remembers," per an employee. Blaho goes further, stating OpenAI is trying to figure out how to do this in a "careful way."

How this could appear to users isn't known; however, there's speculation that the ChatGPT app could display ads in a card-style without imposing on the chats users have with the AI directly. As one might expect, these ads could only impact users on the free tier of the ChatGPT app, not those who've subscribed to additional capabilities.

ChatGPT's going with the flow

Blaho compares what OpenAI is seemingly moving ChatGPT toward to what Google has done with ads and AI Overviews. Google announced last year that it was preparing to bring ads to results shown to users via AI Overviews. The idea was to be "more helpful," as the little snippets would display ads only if they were relevant to the user's query and to the information provided by the AI.

The company even highlighted some of its data, which reportedly showed that users who've seen ads have found them helpful. There's no doubt that users may have their own personal takes if this actually rolls out for ChatGPT on Android.

Outside of a potential ad bombardment, ChatGPT had an update on Android that brought its AI capabilities to music. Users who've connected their Spotify Premium accounts to ChatGPT can have the AI find songs for them, play tracks, and even throw on their favorite weekly mixes, like Discover Weekly and New Music Friday. The entire update was very similar to Spotify's extension for Gemini, which offers more of the same tools for music discovery and playback.