Facing rising operational costs, the AI giant OpenAI has finally opened the "B-side" of its business model. At the recent India AI Summit, OpenAI's Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap officially addressed concerns about advertising, stating that it will be an iterative process of continuous refinement and optimization.

Previously, OpenAI had announced plans to introduce advertisements in the free version of ChatGPT and the Go plan, and had already started implementing this with U.S. users. This move sparked public ridicule from competitors such as Anthropic, who claimed it compromised the product's purity. In response, Lightcap remained very cautious, emphasizing that the company is "determined to do this right" and will not sacrifice user experience for short-term profits.

AIbase learned that OpenAI is trying to find a balance through long-term testing. Lightcap believes that if done properly, advertising can be a "plus" rather than a disruption to the product experience. He called on the outside world to give the company several months to observe how this new form of AI advertising evolves. Meanwhile, OpenAI's ad pricing has also been exposed, with reports indicating that the cost per thousand impressions (CPM) is as high as $60, and a minimum investment threshold of $200,000, which is undoubtedly a "premium price" in the current digital advertising market.

Currently, e-commerce platform Shopify has become the first partner, allowing merchants to display ads within the ChatGPT search experience. Sam Altman previously strongly responded to competitors on social media, stating that maintaining a free entry point is to allow everyone the opportunity to use AI. However, how to strike a balance between high commercialization premiums, a massive free user base, and strict privacy protection will be the biggest challenge OpenAI faces in the coming months.