AI Chatbots Enter Advertising Era, Sparking Privacy Debate
Marketers, however, see major opportunity.
NEW YORK: (Web Desk) – The growing use of advertisements and sponsored content in AI chatbots has raised fresh privacy concerns, as technology companies search for new revenue streams in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has begun displaying ads for free and low-cost users to offset massive operational costs. This move quickly drew criticism from rival Anthropic, which has positioned itself as a champion of AI safety and data protection. During a Super Bowl advertisement, Anthropic mocked chatbots that inject promotional content into otherwise helpful responses—a clip OpenAI CEO Sam Altman later dismissed as “clearly dishonest.”
Beyond OpenAI, Microsoft has been running contextual ads in its Copilot assistant since 2023. Meanwhile, AI search engine Perplexity has been testing ads in the United States, and Google is experimenting with advertising in AI-generated search overviews, though it insists ads will be handled with extreme care in its Gemini chatbot.
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Industry experts say trust, privacy, and transparency will be critical as ads expand across AI platforms. While companies promise not to sell user data or alter chatbot responses, analysts note that advertising could fundamentally reshape how users interact with AI.
Marketers, however, see major opportunity. AI-driven interactions are already delivering high conversion rates, and analysts predict AI assistants could capture up to two percent of the global online advertising market by 2030. Brands are now racing not only to buy ad space but also to optimize content for chatbot responses through a new strategy known as Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).
As AI becomes a central gateway to information, experts warn that brands not visible in chatbot responses risk becoming invisible altogether—highlighting how advertising, trust, and technology are becoming increasingly intertwined in the AI era.
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