Home / Technology / AI Ads Debut: Your Data Fuels OpenAI's Marketing
AI Ads Debut: Your Data Fuels OpenAI's Marketing
2 May
Summary
- OpenAI now uses cookies to advertise its services on other websites.
- User conversations remain private, not shared with advertisers.
- Free users' data may be used for targeted advertising by default.
OpenAI has updated its privacy policy in the US to include targeted advertisements for its products and services on external websites. The company will now use cookies to promote services like ChatGPT and Codex, though it assures that user conversations will not be shared with marketing partners. This initiative appears aimed at converting free users, with marketing privacy settings found to be 'on' by default for these accounts.
This change allows OpenAI to share limited identifiers, such as cookie IDs, with select marketing partners to assess ad effectiveness and drive sign-ups for its tools. Users can opt out of this data usage for marketing purposes through their settings. Competitors like Google are also exploring similar advertising integrations within generative AI tools, indicating a broader industry trend.
Previously, OpenAI disclosed personal data to vendors and service providers for business operations. The updated policy now explicitly includes marketing partners, with whom limited information may be shared for promotional efforts and effectiveness measurement. While the company categorizes various data as 'Personal Data,' it states it does not use this information to infer consumer characteristics.
