OpenAI Enables Marketing Cookies by Default for Free ChatGPT Users

OpenAI is ready to target free users of its services with advertisements around the web, based on what it knows about them.On Thursday, OpenAI sent an email to users laying out major changes to the AI company’s privacy policy in the US. “We’ll now use cookies to promote OpenAI products and services on other websites,” reads the email sent on April 30. “This does not impact your conversations in ChatGPT. Your conversations with ChatGPT are private and are not shared with marketing partners.” Cookies store information in users’ browsers as they explore the web.Chats with the bot aren’t shared with third parties. Even so, details OpenAI collects as users interact with its services may soon be used to market those same services, like ChatGPT, outside the platform. This appears to be targeted at converting free users (WIRED found that marketing settings were “on” by default) and seeing how effective its ads are at conversions.The move comes as OpenAI looks to expand its own advertising network inside ChatGPT. The company started rolling out ads at the bottom of ChatGPT outputs for US users in February. Competitors including Google are exploring how ads can be woven into the user experience of generative