OpenAI is reportedly considering advertising as a new revenue stream. Despite ChatGPT Pro subscriptions and API services, rising operational costs are pushing the AI giant to diversify income sources. Financial projections suggest the company’s annual expenses may soon exceed $5 billion, spurring this strategic pivot.

Although CFO Sarah Friar claims in an interview with Financial Times that there are no concrete plans yet, hiring Google’s former head of advertising – Shivakumar Venkataraman – as vice president indicates a potential change in strategy and the creation of a marketing team.

Users worry that ads could disrupt the currently streamlined user experience that ChatGPT provides, drawing comparisons to Google’s ad-heavy search results. Potential challenges include cluttered interfaces, commercially motivated responses, and compromised system neutrality.

Should this be implemented, OpenAI’s key challenge will be maintaining balance between profitability and the quality that has made its tools so popular.