OpenAI, the company that has developed the very popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, is looking into advertising for its platform, reports the Financial Times.
CFO Sarah Friar has informed the paper that the company is investigating an advertisement-supported business model but plans to be very judicious about where and when ads would show up. In another statement, Friar said that there is currently no active plan of implementing such ads but the idea is being discussed within the company.
According to the report in the Financial Times, OpenAI has also brought aboard a former Google executive, Shivakumar Venkataraman, who has a wealth of experience in the area of advertising. It adds further weight to speculations about the direction in which the company could be heading, becoming an ad-based revenue future.
Up until recently, OpenAI has depended solely on the income from user subscription fees to fund the development of its generative AI tools. However, the reality is that mammoth costs incurred in producing and operating such models raise questions about the sustainability of such an operation in the long run. The dent it has made in funding from investors is no longer infinite. Revenue diversification is therefore under consideration by OpenAI.
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One such way might be that of introducing advertising, which provokes mixed reactions from people. OpenAI founder Sam Altman has gone on record as not being keen on the idea and said at a recent Harvard Business School fireside chat that it would come under the “last resort.”
He indicated that he could see advertising coming into play; however, he made it clear that he doesn’t generally like advertising and also worries about mixing AI and ads because of the possible bad consequences.