A beta version of the ChatGPT Android app now contains several code strings that point to upcoming ad support. The build identified as version 1.2025.329 includes references to an “ads feature,” “search ad,” “search ads carousel,” and “bazaar content,” according to a post from developer Tibor Blaho who examined the app package.
This beta release is not yet live for the general public, but the ad related labels appear in multiple places in the code. Separate coverage from testing communities and industry sites says the wording suggests formats tied to search style replies and possible shopping or marketplace cards, rather than simple banner placements inside every chat.
The discovery lines up with earlier reporting that OpenAI is weighing ads as a new revenue stream for ChatGPT. In October, The Information and other outlets said the company was considering ad units that draw on ChatGPT’s memory feature, which stores details from past conversations to personalise future outputs. Internal discussions described ads that could use this stored context for more precise targeting while still giving users the option to disable memory.
Sam Altman has previously acknowledged that ads are on the table, even if he has described the idea in cautious terms. At a 2024 event at Harvard Business School, he called advertising a last resort business model and said that mixing ads and AI responses felt “uniquely unsettling,” but he stopped short of ruling the option out. In later interviews and on OpenAI’s own podcast, he said the company was not opposed to ads in principle and was still working out how they might appear in the product.
The beta code does not show exactly where ads would appear in the ChatGPT interface. The report notes that OpenAI could decide to keep ads limited to the free tier, which already has caps on message volume, use of memory, and access to advanced reasoning models. Paid plans such as ChatGPT Plus and enterprise offerings could remain ad free, but OpenAI has not announced any final policy.?
