DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis questions OpenAI’s early move into chatbot ads

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said he was “surprised” that OpenAI has already begun introducing ads into its AI chatbot, raising questions about how advertising fits into the future of AI assistants.

Speaking to Axios on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Hassabis said Google is approaching AI monetisation more cautiously and is not rushing into ad-driven models.

“I’m a little bit surprised they’ve moved so early into that,” Hassabis said, referring to OpenAI’s decision to test ads in ChatGPT. While acknowledging that advertising has historically funded much of the consumer internet, he said the model could pose challenges in the context of AI assistants.

“In the realm of assistants — where the chatbot is meant to be helpful and work in the user’s best interest — there’s a real question about how ads fit into that model,” he said. “You want to trust your assistant, so how does that work?”

His comments follow OpenAI’s announcement that it will begin testing ads as a way to generate revenue from users who do not subscribe to paid tiers of ChatGPT. The move comes as the company faces rising infrastructure and energy costs tied to scaling AI systems.

Hassabis said Google currently has no plans to introduce ads into its own AI chatbot and stressed that DeepMind is under no pressure to make “knee-jerk” decisions despite advertising being central to Google’s broader business model.

“We don’t feel any immediate pressure to rush into something like that,” he said. “We want to be scientific, rigorous and thoughtful about each step — whether it’s the technology or the product.”

He also warned that ads inside conversational AI could degrade user experience, pointing to prior consumer backlash when OpenAI experimented with in-chat app suggestions that users perceived as intrusive.

According to Hassabis, monetising AI assistants is fundamentally different from advertising in search. While search ads can align with user intent, chatbots are designed to become personalised digital assistants that understand users and support multiple aspects of their lives.

“That’s a very different use case from search, and it needs to be thought through very carefully,” he said.

The remarks come as Google rolls out new personalisation features for Gemini, allowing users to opt into having the AI reference Gmail, Photos and Search history to deliver more tailored responses. Hassabis said improving usefulness and trust — not short-term monetisation — remains the priority.

Still, he acknowledged that ads may eventually play a role if implemented in a way that preserves user trust. “There may be a way to do it right over time,” he said.