OpenAI addresses user complaints over "promotional messages" in ChatGPT

OpenAI executives have been responding to paying ChatGPT subscribers who reported seeing promotional messages for companies like Peloton and Target, leading to concerns about the introduction of advertising.

The company's chief research officer, Mark Chen, acknowledged that OpenAI "fell short" with recent promotional messages and is working to improve the user experience. Chen stated, "I agree that anything that feels like an ad needs to be handled with care, and we fell short," and confirmed that this "kind of suggestion" has been turned off while the company improves the model's precision and considers better user controls.

ChatGPT head Nick Turley maintained a firm stance, stating there are "no live tests for ads" and that any screenshots seen were "either not real or not ads." He stressed that if the company does pursue advertising, it will take a thoughtful approach designed to respect user trust.

OpenAI attributes the reported messages to tests for showing apps built on the ChatGPT app platform announced in October, insisting there was "no financial component" to the suggestions. However, one of the complaining users expressed skepticism regarding this explanation.

The controversy arises amidst reports of internal shifts at OpenAI. Fidji Sumo, former Instacart and Facebook executive, recently joined as CEO of Applications and was anticipated to build the company’s advertising business. This week, however, The Wall Street Journal reported that a memo from CEO Sam Altman declared a "code red," prioritizing work to improve ChatGPT's quality and pushing back other products, including advertising.