Last month, the OpenAI Podcast launched, with the first episode featuring CEO Sam Altman.
During the conversation, host Andrew Mayne quizzed Altman over the potential for OpenAI to insert advertising into the much-loved AI model.
Many have touted the move, with the company projected to burn through $26BN and accumulate $14.4BN in losses this year, per the New York Times.
Addressing the speculation, Altman claimed that he’s "not totally against" the idea. Yet, they aren’t sure what an advertising product would look like.
"I can point to areas where I like ads," said the CEO. "I think ads on Instagram are kind of cool [and] I’ve bought a bunch of stuff from them. But I think it would be very hard to get it right; it would take a lot of care."
Altman then underscored the high degree of trust in the independence of ChatGPT’s outputs, and appeared unwilling to break that.
Indeed, the OpenAI head honcho believes faith in web search has fallen, as with social media, because "you can tell you're being monetized."
He continued: "How much do you believe you're getting what the company truly thinks is the best content for you, versus something designed to interact with ads? There's a psychological effect there.
For example, I think if we started modifying the output stream from the LLM (large language model) in exchange for who paid us more, that would feel really bad, and I would hate that as a user. That would be a trust-destroying moment.
Of course, there are alternative methods, such as inserting adverts outside the ChatGPT stream. Yet, Altman stressed: "It would have to feel really useful to users and really clear that it was not messing with the LLM's output."
The idea of adverts becomes even more complex, given OpenAI’s recent move to release a new shopping experience, where users can find products/services, compare them, and follow a link to make the purchase.
For those unfamiliar with the experience, check out the video below.
Reports of OpenAI teaming up with Shopify to deliver an end-to-end commerce experience within ChatGPT underscore its intention to build upon this.
In doing so, ChatGPT may soon become the go-to place for many shoppers, with it already getting 5.24BN hits each month, per SEMrush.