Confusion is moving away from advertising as the AI ​​ad war heats up and OpenAI is testing monetization

AI search startup Perplexity is distancing itself from advertising amid concerns that users will not trust chatbots with an agenda to increase sales. The move highlights an emerging crossroads for the AI ​​industry as the sector’s biggest players look for stable revenue streams to fund massive spending, as giants like OpenAI lean into advertising and others like Anthropic promise to keep them out of it.

“The challenge with ads is that the user might start doubting everything…that’s why we don’t see it as a productive thing to focus on right now,” an unnamed executive was quoted as saying. foot. Instead, the company will focus on producing something that consumers are “willing to pay for,” particularly business clients and power users such as finance professionals, lawyers, doctors and executives.

Another executive did not rule out a return to advertising in the future, but said that ad serving “does not align with what users want” and may not be needed for the company to thrive. They said: “We work in the field of accuracy, and our job is to provide the truth and the correct answers.”

The pivot puts Perplexity firmly on the anti-advertising side of the industry’s emerging divide over how AI makes money. Some, like Perplexity, hope subscriptions will be enough, which is what Anthropic has done Committed to keeping chatbot Claude ad-free. Other companies, such as OpenAI, have embraced the ads and the company in the past week Ad testing has begun For ChatGPT users for free. The dispute moved into the public arena as well, with its Anthropic broadcast Attack ads Apparently targeting ChatGPT at the Super Bowl is OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Named “Dishonest.”