The AI company admits it "fell short" after paying subscribers complained about promotional messages from brands like Target and Peloton.
OpenAI has disabled a feature in ChatGPT that recommended third-party applications after paying subscribers accused the company of sneaking advertisements into its premium product.
The controversy erupted over the weekend when ChatGPT Plus subscribers began posting screenshots on social media showing what appeared to be promotional messages for companies, including Target and Peloton, embedded within their AI conversations. The backlash prompted conflicting responses from OpenAI executives before the company ultimately pulled the plug on the feature.
Mark Chen, OpenAI's Chief Research Officer, acknowledged the misstep on X (formerly Twitter), striking an apologetic tone that contrasted with earlier company denials.
"I agree that anything that feels like an ad needs to be handled with care, and we fell short," Chen wrote. "We've turned off this kind of suggestion while we improve the model's precision. We're also looking at better controls so you can dial this down or off if you don't find it helpful."
The controversy gained traction after Benjamin De Kraker, a former xAI employee, posted a screenshot showing ChatGPT suggesting he "shop at Target" while asking questions about Windows BitLocker encryption.
"I'm in ChatGPT (paid Plus subscription), asking about Windows BitLocker, and it's F-ing showing me ADS TO SHOP AT TARGET. Yeah, screw this. Lose all your users," De Kraker wrote on X.
Company Denials Met With Skepticism
OpenAI initially attempted to characterize the complaints as a misunderstanding. Nick Turley, head of ChatGPT, posted on Friday that he was "seeing lots of confusion about ads rumors in ChatGPT."
"There are no live tests for ads – any screenshots you've seen are either not real or not ads," Turley wrote. "If we do pursue ads, we'll take a thoughtful approach. People trust ChatGPT and anything we do will be designed to respect that."
Daniel McAuley, OpenAI's data lead for ChatGPT, also responded to user complaints, clarifying that "This is not an ad (there's no financial component). It's only a suggestion to install Peloton's app."
The company maintained that the promotional messages were part of testing for its ChatGPT app platform, launched in October, which was meant to showcase third-party apps and integrations. Partners on the platform include companies such as Booking.com, Canva, Coursera, Figma, Expedia, and Zillow.
Another user complained that they couldn't get ChatGPT to stop recommending Spotify despite being an Apple Music subscriber. The lack of relevance in the suggestions amplified frustrations, with the Peloton recommendation appearing during a conversation about a podcast featuring Elon Musk discussing xAI—topics entirely unrelated to fitness.
Questions of Semantics
The incident underscores the semantic gap between corporate definitions of "agentic commerce" and user perception of intrusive advertising. While OpenAI insists the suggestions had no paid component, Android code analysis has revealed strings in ChatGPT version v1.2025.329 that explicitly use terms like "ads feature" and "search ad," suggesting the underlying infrastructure may share characteristics with ad networks.
For users, the distinction is largely academic: any unsolicited commercial message disrupting a conversation functions as an advertisement, regardless of whether money changed hands.
The app suggestions could not be turned off by users, making them feel more intrusive and potentially undermining OpenAI's broader ambitions to integrate third-party apps into the ChatGPT experience.
Advertising Ambitions on Hold
Speculation regarding OpenAI's advertising ambitions increased earlier this year following the appointment of Fidji Simo, former Instacart and Facebook executive, as CEO of Applications—a move widely interpreted as signaling the company's intent to build an advertising business.
However, strategic priorities appear to have shifted. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that CEO Sam Altman issued a "code red" memo prioritizing work to improve ChatGPT's quality while pushing back other product initiatives, including advertising.
The episode highlights the delicate balance AI companies must strike as they seek to monetize their products without alienating users who have grown accustomed to ad-free experiences. For OpenAI, whose ChatGPT Plus subscription costs $20 per month, the expectation of an uninterrupted experience runs particularly high.
