Perplexity, one of the first AI services to experiment with advertising, has ruled out bringing ads back into its core product, according to a report by the Financial Times. Executives at the company said sponsored answers risk undermining user trust, a critical factor for paid AI services.
Perplexity tested advertising in 2024 by placing sponsored responses beneath its chatbot’s answers. That approach was later phased out. A Perplexity executive told the Financial Times that users must believe they are receiving the best possible answer, not one influenced by commercial incentives, in order to keep using the product and justify paying for it.
The stance sets Perplexity apart as AI companies explore new revenue models to cover the rising costs of training and operating large language models. While subscription fees remain the primary source of income for many AI services, advertising is increasingly being tested as an additional stream.
Diverging Approaches to AI Advertising
The report follows a recent move by OpenAI to introduce ads for users of ChatGPT on free or low-cost Go plans. OpenAI has said advertisements will not influence chatbot responses and that advertisers will not gain access to user conversations. Higher-tier subscriptions remain ad-free.
That decision has drawn criticism from some competitors. Anthropic, the developer of the Claude chatbot, has publicly rejected advertising as a business model. The company recently mocked OpenAI’s move and said ads would conflict with its goal of building an assistant focused on work and deep thinking. Anthropic has argued that users should not have to wonder whether an AI system is subtly steering conversations toward monetizable outcomes.
Other major technology companies have taken more hybrid approaches. Google includes advertising in its AI-powered search features, including AI Overviews that appear at the top of traditional search results. However, Google has not yet introduced ads inside its Gemini chatbot, keeping conversational AI separate from its advertising business for now.
The range of strategies highlights the uncertainty around how AI services should be funded. Advertising has long been central to internet platforms, but applying it to conversational AI presents new challenges. Unlike search results or social feeds, AI chatbots present a single synthesized answer, making it harder to separate commercial content from core functionality without affecting credibility.
Rising Costs and Investor Pressure
Behind the debate is a broader financial reality. The cost of training and running large language models continues to climb as companies scale up computing infrastructure and compete on performance. Despite widespread adoption, many AI firms remain unprofitable, increasing pressure to demonstrate sustainable business models to investors.
Advertising is one option, alongside higher subscription prices, enterprise licensing, and usage-based fees. Perplexity’s decision suggests that some companies believe long-term trust and willingness to pay outweigh the short-term revenue potential of ads.
For now, the AI industry remains split. Some companies see advertising as inevitable, while others view it as incompatible with the promise of neutral, high-quality answers. As AI systems become more embedded in daily work and decision-making, how they are monetized may prove just as important as how well they perform.
