OpenAI has begun showing ads in ChatGPT to users in Japan, a trial it launched Friday as it looks to broaden its revenue beyond subscriptions while the cost of competing in AI keeps climbing. The ads run on the free tier and the ¥1,400-a-month Go plan, about $9, but are withheld from users under 18 and from anyone paying for higher-priced tiers. They appear in a separate section tied to ChatGPT's responses, and OpenAI says their content won't influence the answers the chatbot gives. OpenAI is serving the ads with Japanese marketing firm Dentsu Digital, plus other partners. The Japan launch extends a U.S. test OpenAI started in February that has since spread to more countries, after the company said in May it would bring ads to five markets, Japan among them, within weeks.
