OpenAI will put ads on ChatGPT’s Free and Go tiers in India

OpenAI will put ads on ChatGPT’s Free and Go tiers in India

2 min read•Aug 29, 2026•
Marco Ferrari
Marco Ferrari

OpenAI will start showing ads on ChatGPT’s Free and Go tiers in India, first reported by TechCrunch. OpenAI said in February that it has more than 100 million weekly active ChatGPT users in India, and that a huge chunk of those users are on the free or lower-priced Go tiers.

The initial rollout will show ads for 50 brands, and OpenAI has partnered with agencies WPP and Omnicom. The company will launch an ad manager next month that will let marketers create campaigns for their companies, provided the campaigns have a daily minimum budget of ₹725 ($7.60).

The move follows a change to OpenAI’s terms of service earlier this month indicating that it will show ads while users use the AI assistant. OpenAI started showing ads to U.S. users in February and expanded the program to serve ads in Europe earlier this month.

OpenAI has worked hard to cultivate its user base in India. It launched a sub-$5 ChatGPT Go plan in August 2025, ran a limited promotion that made the tier free for a full year, advertised its products during the Women’s Premier League and Indian Premier League cricket leagues, and hired Uber’s India head to lead expansion efforts in the country.

Ahead of a potential IPO expected this year or next, OpenAI has been trying to ramp up and cement its revenue sources. The Wall Street Journal said the company recorded revenue of $6.7 billion in the second quarter ended June 2026, up from $5.7 billion in the previous quarter.

Last November, The Information reported that OpenAI was aiming for 220 million paying subscribers by 2030 and that 35 million users paid for its Plus and Pro plans at that time.

Plug-in vehicles reach 32% of global registrations in September

Plug-in vehicles reached 32% of global registrations in September, first reported by Cleantechnica. Battery-electric vehicles accounted for 23% of registrations and set a record at 1.54 million, up 8% year over year, while plug-in hybrids fell 9%; year to date in 2026, BEVs were up 12% and PHEVs down 10%.

Global plug-in registrations rose 3% year over year to around 2.16 million in September, close to the all-time record of 2.17 million set last December.

Year to date, plug-in registrations were up 4% year over year: BEVs grew 12%, while PHEVs fell 10%. Their combined share for 2026 stood at 25%, with BEVs at 18% and PHEVs at 7%. The overall growth rate therefore hides a clear split between the two categories.

The Tesla Model Y led the model rankings with a record 165,000 registrations, up 17% year over year. Tesla Model 3 came second with 65,000, enough to move ahead of Geely Xingyuan and BYD Song despite a 4% annual decline.

BYD Song finished fourth at 54,519 registrations, up 19% and the fastest growth rate among the top five. An export push and the new-generation Ultra body helped lift the model.

At the make level, Tesla had a record 232,000 registrations, up 9% year over year. Toyota reached 61,332 for its fourth record in a row, finishing ahead of Volkswagen’s year-best 58,000 to become September’s best-selling legacy make.