Did ChatGPT Just Try to Sell Me Yoga Pants While Encrypting My Hard Drive?
OpenAI insists—pinkie promise, scouts’ honor—that ChatGPT isn’t running ads. Nope, not a single one. But after a few paying users spotted some suspiciously retail-flavored suggestions (Peloton? Target? BitLocker but make it fashion?), the company had to step in and go, “Okay, yes, that looks bad, but hear us out…”
Chief Research Officer Mark Chen admitted this little whoopsie was, uh, less ‘AI magic’ and more ‘algorithmic overenthusiasm’. “We fell short,” Chen said, which is corporate-speak for “our model got a little too friendly with capitalism.” Apparently, OpenAI was merely testing ways to highlight apps built on the ChatGPT platform—no financial kickbacks, no brand deals, and no influencer discount codes… yet.
Unsurprisingly, users were not convinced. One particularly aggrieved Plus subscriber posted:
“I asked ChatGPT about Windows BitLocker, and it told me to shop at Target. Absolute clown show.”
To which the rest of the internet replied, “Bro, did ChatGPT just try to sell you throw pillows while encrypting your drive?”
ChatGPT’s head honcho, Nick Turley, jumped online to say there were no ad tests going on—“any screenshots you’ve seen are either fake or misunderstood,” which is exactly what someone running stealth ads would say (just kidding, Nick). Turley promised that if OpenAI ever does explore ads, they’ll approach it “thoughtfully.” Because nothing says trustworthy AI like a “thoughtful ad experience.”
Meanwhile, Mark Chen came back with the digital equivalent of an “it’s not you, it’s me” speech:
“Anything that feels like an ad needs to be handled with care, and we fell short.”
Translation: ChatGPT’s suggestion engine got a little too enthusiastic about showing off its friends’ apps. OpenAI says it’s now turning that feature off while it fine-tunes things and adds some sliders so users can say, “No, thank you, please stop trying to sell me yoga mats during my cybersecurity chat.”
And in a fun twist, all this comes right after former Instacart and Facebook exec Fidji Simo joined as CEO of Applications—you know, the perfect hire if you weren’t planning anything ad-related. But according to the Wall Street Journal, Sam Altman has now declared a “code red”—which in tech-speak means “okay team, less capitalism, more competence.”
So for now, there are no ads in ChatGPT. Just a very ambitious AI that momentarily thought it was a lifestyle brand.
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