More than three years after the release of ChatGPT shook Google to its foundations, the AI advertising wars are finally breaking out. OpenAI opened hostilities at the end of last week by outlining its plans to bring search-like ads to its chatbot. The news, though, did not even cause a ripple in the new-found equanimity of Alphabet investors.
The lack of drama reflects a heightened appreciation of how entrenched Google is, as well as the belated success it has had with its own AI models. But the disruption from the technology is in its early stages. The ways people find information and make purchases online, and what part ads play in the mix, are very much up for grabs.
OpenAI’s path to this point has had a certain inevitability about it, closely echoing Google’s early days. Both companies initially showed a distaste for the idea of advertising before conceding that, if your ambition is to reach everyone, this is an effective way to monetise.