OpenAI said on May 8 it will expand its ChatGPT advertising pilot to five countries including South Korea within weeks.

The pilot, currently underway in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, is to be introduced sequentially to South Korea, the United Kingdom, Japan, Brazil and Mexico in the coming weeks. It targets adult users on ChatGPT’s Free and Go plans.

Ads will be clearly marked as sponsored content and separated from ChatGPT answers. OpenAI stressed that ads do not influence answer content. Advertisers cannot access user conversations or personal information, it said, and can only view aggregated performance information such as ad views and clicks.

Users can hide ads or provide feedback, and can also manage ad personalisation settings. Ads will not be shown in conversations on topics that may be sensitive or subject to regulation. Ads will also not be shown to accounts confirmed or predicted to be minors, or to users on ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu plans.

Dave Dugan (데이브 듀건), head of global solutions at OpenAI, said, "As companies show strong interest in how to connect with users in a conversational, intent-based environment, we decided to expand the regions where the pilot is introduced." He added, "We will put user experience and trust first and operate the ad experience carefully in each region."

OpenAI plans to provide product-related guidance to users who receive ads.