As we approach the year 2026, the world of AI is evolving daily, with regular updates and new ways to interact with chatbots.
This week the focus was on advertising in AI assistants. It all started when ChatGPT subscribers earning $200 a month started seeing “app suggestions” pop up during their conversations.
OpenAI immediately recognized its responsibility and disabled these pop-ups as it deemed them too close to advertising. Mark Chen, the company’s head of research, said: “Anything that looks like advertising should be treated with caution, and we didn’t.” » »
Advertising is inevitable.
This statement is meant to be reassuring, but it comes with one element that’s hard to ignore: the phrase “there are no projects in the works.”
This is where Google’s ranking gets interesting. Well, Gemini doesn’t today, and it’s true. The calls are also not used for advertising purposes.
But OpenAI just showed what happens when its business model faces astronomical computing costs and multibillion-dollar growth. At some point, a decision has to be made, even though the company has backed off so far.
AI assistants are quickly becoming the new space for app search, recommendations and discovery. In other words: an ideal breeding ground for advertising.
And even if Gemini continues, it seems hard to imagine a future where none of these platforms test the integration of “suggestions” in the chat window, especially now that one of the giants has already taken the plunge.
In its current version, Gemini remains easy to use, specific and remarkably unobtrusive. But if there’s one thing this week has proven, it’s that the era of AI-based advertising has indeed begun. OpenAI went live, users responded as expected, and the entire industry is watching closely.
The real question is whether the Twins will stay out of the public eye forever… or if they’ll just wait it out. After this week, nothing seems completely off the table.
- Salesforce: CEO leaves ChatGPT and praises Gemini 3
- ChatGPT becomes your personal trading assistant (and works 24/7)
- Sora, Gemini and Nano Banana Now Limited: Out of Free?