Well, well, well. It looks like our favorite free AI therapist, homework cheat-sheet, and recipe-for-disaster generator is about to get a little— commercial. A leak has confirmed that OpenAI is preparing to roll out ads on ChatGPT for the public. That—s right, your deeply personal existential crisis about your career path might soon be interrupted by a pre-roll for a meal kit delivery service.

According to a buzzing Reddit thread with over a thousand upvotes, the ads are coming. The details are still a bit fuzzy, but the writing is on the wall—or, more accurately, soon to be in the chat window. The era of a pristine, ad-free conversation with a seemingly all-knowing digital entity is apparently drawing to a close. We had a good run.

Let—s be honest, the irony is delicious. We ask ChatGPT to write a sonnet about the crushing weight of late-stage capitalism, and it might have to suggest we try the new McRib in the middle of line twelve. The real joke is that we—ve been using it to generate ad copy for months, and now the tool itself is becoming the billboard. Talk about the circle of life, or at least the circle of relentless consumerism.

Imagine the new prompts we—ll need. —Explain quantum physics like I—m five, but please skip the ad for crypto.— Or —Draft a breakup text that—s firm yet kind, and for the love of god, don—t recommend a dating app to me halfway through.— The AI—s famously neutral tone will face its ultimate test: trying to sound genuinely helpful while seamlessly integrating a promo code for socks.

In the end, this was inevitable. Nothing truly popular on the internet stays pure forever. First, it was our social feeds, then our podcasts, and now our confidential AI confidants. So get ready, because your next deep, philosophical chat is about to get sponsored by a VPN or a fantasy sportsbook. The future is here, and it—s subtly trying to sell you a subscription box.