OpenAI COO says marketing will be ‘an iterative process’

Last month, OpenAI announced that it would launch ads for free users and Go tiers in ChatGPT. The company released an advertisement for US users earlier this month among critics like Anthropic, who published list of Super Bowl commercials.

On the sidelines of the India AI conference, TechCrunch asked OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap about the company’s approach to advertising. Lightcap said that the process is iterative and the company must access user privacy and trust accordingly.

“Well, this will be a repeatable process for sure. This is something we are committed to doing well. What does this look like? It means obviously keeping the trust of users at the highest level. It means getting the secret right,” said Lightcap.

He added that ads can increase user experience if done well. He recommended giving OpenAI a few months to assess the company’s progress in releasing the product.

“It means that creating something very interesting. We think that the ads that are done well can be an addition to what has been done. And it will take time, it will take time, but we are just getting started. So maybe give us a few months and see how it goes,” he said.

Lightcap did not say whether the company is considering advertising outside of the US market at this time.

Earlier this month, Sam Altman returned to Anthropic and long post on X of the Super Bowl ad, calling its partner OpenAI “dishonest” and accusing them of creating an expensive product that serves “rich people.”

“Most importantly, we believe that everyone should use AI and is committed to freedom, because we believe that opportunity creates organization. More Texans use ChatGPT for free than the number of people who use Claude in the US, so we have a different problem than they do,” Altman wrote.

Miscellaneous supplies has reported that OpenAI is paying $60 per 1,000 views, an unusual amount. last month, Adweek discovered that OpenAI is asking for a $200,000 minimum commitment from investors. Earlier this week, The Information He added that Shopify is allowing its merchants to advertise on ChatGPT through its online Shop Campaigns, joining early adopters like Target, Williams-Sonoma, and Adobe.