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   OpenAI walks back ad-like app suggestions in ChatGPT, saying it "fell short"   
   and will improve controls   
      
   Date:   
   Mon, 08 Dec 2025 14:07:42 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   OpenAI quietly disables ad-like app suggestions in ChatGPT after backlash    
   over unclear promotion.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   User anger and confusion over ads appearing in ChatGPT continues, and it now   
   looks like OpenAI has turned off its controversial app suggestions    
   completely, because they looked too much like ads.    
      
   Over the weekend, different leaders at OpenAI offered conflicting    
   perspectives on the "ads that are not ads" situation, with Marc Chen, Chief   
   Research Officer at OpenAI, suggesting, in a reply on X.com, that the company   
   is turning off app suggestions altogether until it can "improve the model's   
   precision."    
      
   Chen also suggested that OpenAI may implement a way for users to turn off app   
   suggestions in the future. "We are also looking at better controls so you can   
   dial this down or off if you do not find it helpful."   
      
   How we got here   
      
   ChatGPT recently introduced apps within conversations , which means you can   
   invoke an app simply by asking a question. Currently, ChatGPT supports apps   
   from Booking.com, Canva, Expedia, and others. OpenAI has also released an SDK   
   for developers, so more apps can be added in the future.    
      
   The problem arose because ChatGPT also suggests apps automatically when they   
   seem relevant to the discussion. For example, if you are talking about buying   
   a new house, ChatGPT might suggest the Zillow app so you can browse listings   
   inside ChatGPT using an interactive map.    
      
   Unfortunately, these app suggestions look extremely similar to ads when they   
   appear, as shown in screenshots circulating online.  Ads have never been part   
   of the ChatGPT experience until now.   
      
   User confusion    
      
   Nick Turley, Head of ChatGPT, denied that OpenAI was running ads in a post on   
   X, suggesting the confusion was due to user misunderstanding rather than   
   OpenAI's intentions.   
      
   "I'm seeing lots of confusion about ad rumors in ChatGPT. There are no live   
   tests for ads, and any screenshots you have seen are either not real or not   
   ads. If we do pursue ads, we will take a thoughtful approach. People trust   
   ChatGPT, and anything we do will be designed to respect that."    
      
   But as users pointed out, if an app suggestion is indistinguishable from an   
   ad, it does not matter what OpenAI calls it because the user experience is   
   exactly the same.    
      
   "Fake ones aside, the real ones that are 'not ads' are still eroding trust in   
   the ChatGPT experience because they feel like ads," said X user Ben Dickenson.   
      
   In contrast, Marc Chen was more conciliatory and admitted that ChatGPT's app   
   suggestions felt like ads. He stated that the company has currently turned   
   them off, saying it "fell short" of user expectations.   
      
   Falling short    
      
   There appears to have been some internal confusion at OpenAI over the    
   weekend. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who is usually quick to comment on ChatGPT   
   issues, has been noticeably quiet on X recently, and there has not been an   
   official statement from the OpenAI account.    
      
   It seems inevitable that ads will arrive on the ChatGPT platform one day, but   
   the user backlash over app suggestions that looked like ads suggests they   
   would not be welcomed, especially by paying customers.    
      
   OpenAI may insist these were not ads, but users have made it clear that    
   intent does not matter; only perception does. When ChatGPT brings suggestions   
   back, they will need to feel unmistakably different from advertising, or the   
   backlash will return just as fast.   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/chatgpt/openai-walks-back-ad   
   -like-app-suggestions-in-chatgpt-saying-it-fell-short-and-will-improve-control   
   s   
      
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