Ads have entered the chat.
Three labs just placed their bets.
A couple of weeks ago, OpenAI started showing ads inside ChatGPT conversations. If you ask about upgrading your phone, you might see a sponsored link for a Samsung.
Three companies, three bets on who pays for intelligence:
- Perplexity is betting the user wants high-signal answers and the advertiser wants high-intent queries. It’s the Google AdWords model evolved.
- Anthropic is betting the enterprise pays. Claude remains a subscription tool with no ads, positioned for serious work where neutrality matters.
- OpenAI is betting they can do it all. Enterprise subscriptions, consumer tiers, and now, advertising.
The risk for OpenAI isn’t just UX friction. It’s trust. If I use an AI as a thinking partner or an agent to solve a problem, the moment I suspect it’s steering me towards a sponsor, its value collapses.
We are watching the battle for the business model of the next decade.
