A recent investigation by 404 Media revealed that advertisers can target ChatGPT users using email addresses, phone numbers, and advertising IDs collected outside the platform. While OpenAI says advertisers cannot access private conversations, the findings raise questions about privacy and advertising within AI assistants.
Jurgita Lapienytė, Editor-in-Chief at Cybernews, argues that the introduction of targeted ads could have an unexpected upside: reminding people that ChatGPT is a commercial product, not a trusted friend, and making them think twice before sharing personal information.
Here’s her full commentary:
“People turn to ChatGPT for personal advice because it feels like talking to a supportive friend. Unlike traditional search, chatting with AI seems less transactional, giving users the sense of having an unbiased, deeply helpful personal assistant.
But how unbiased can these conversations truly be when advertisers can pay to target users with ads based on personal identifiers they collected themselves outside of the platform?
People confide in chatbots, turn to them for answers to delicate life situations, and tap into previous sessions for more personalized responses. They basically lay out their whole lives in front of a bot, so it would help them.
What happens when a targeted ad appears at the end of what felt like a very private conversation, even if only with a machine?
When a doctor offers you a specific medicine, do you wonder if they’ve been paid to do that? In ChatGPT, even with labels and privacy toggles, the line between an objective AI response and targeted advertising feels blurry. Maybe that’s a good thing? Seeing an ad in a chat you thought was private might make you stop oversharing and realize this is just another piece of technology made by a for-profit company.”
Having OpenAI do this may push other people into not trusting them either. Perhaps then there will be questions asked about OpenAI. One can hope.
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This entry was posted on October 20, 2026 at 10:02 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Cybernews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Could ChatGPT’s targeted ads actually be good for user privacy?
A recent investigation by 404 Media revealed that advertisers can target ChatGPT users using email addresses, phone numbers, and advertising IDs collected outside the platform. While OpenAI says advertisers cannot access private conversations, the findings raise questions about privacy and advertising within AI assistants.
Jurgita Lapienytė, Editor-in-Chief at Cybernews, argues that the introduction of targeted ads could have an unexpected upside: reminding people that ChatGPT is a commercial product, not a trusted friend, and making them think twice before sharing personal information.
Here’s her full commentary:
“People turn to ChatGPT for personal advice because it feels like talking to a supportive friend. Unlike traditional search, chatting with AI seems less transactional, giving users the sense of having an unbiased, deeply helpful personal assistant.
But how unbiased can these conversations truly be when advertisers can pay to target users with ads based on personal identifiers they collected themselves outside of the platform?
People confide in chatbots, turn to them for answers to delicate life situations, and tap into previous sessions for more personalized responses. They basically lay out their whole lives in front of a bot, so it would help them.
What happens when a targeted ad appears at the end of what felt like a very private conversation, even if only with a machine?
When a doctor offers you a specific medicine, do you wonder if they’ve been paid to do that? In ChatGPT, even with labels and privacy toggles, the line between an objective AI response and targeted advertising feels blurry. Maybe that’s a good thing? Seeing an ad in a chat you thought was private might make you stop oversharing and realize this is just another piece of technology made by a for-profit company.”
Having OpenAI do this may push other people into not trusting them either. Perhaps then there will be questions asked about OpenAI. One can hope.
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This entry was posted on October 20, 2026 at 10:02 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Cybernews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.