OpenAI says it’s turned off app suggestions that look like ads

While OpenAI continues to maintain that no ads – or tests for ads – are currently live in ChatGPT, the company’s lead researcher Mark Chen also says recognized that the company “fell short” with recent advertising messages and is working to improve the experience.

Chen and other OpenAI executives responded to messages from paying ChatGPT subscribers who complained about seeing promotional messages for companies like Peloton and Goal.

In response, the company said it was only testing ways to show apps built on the ChatGPT app platform announced in Octoberwith “no financial component” to these suggestions. (One of the users who initially complained about the ads responded skepticallywriting: “Bruhhh… Don’t insult your paying users.”)

Likewise, Nick Turley, head of ChatGPT posted on Friday that he saw “a lot of confusion about ad rumors in ChatGPT.”

“There are no live tests for ads – all the screenshots you’ve seen are not real or not ads,” Turley wrote. “As we pursue advertising, we will take a thoughtful approach. People trust ChatGPT and everything we do will be designed to respect that.”

Earlier that same day, however, Chen responded in a more apologetic tone, recognizing that the controversy is not just a matter of user confusion.

“I agree that anything that looks like an advertisement should be treated with care, and we have fallen short in that regard,” he wrote. “We’ve turned off suggestions like this as we improve the accuracy of the model. We’re also looking at better controls so you can turn this down or off if you don’t find it useful.”

Earlier this year, former Instacart and Facebook executive Fidji Sumo joined OpenAI as CEO of Applications and was widely expected to building the company’s advertising business. However, The Wall Street Journal reports this this week, a recent memo from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared a “code red,” prioritizing improving the quality of ChatGPT and cutting back on other products, including ads.