OpenAI updated its US privacy policy on April 30 and told users it will use cookies to promote its products and services on other websites. [1] The company emailed users the same day about the changes, which relate to marketing cookies and third-party promotions. [1]
OpenAI said ChatGPT conversations stay private and are not shared with marketing partners. [1] In an email, the company said: "We’ll now use cookies to promote OpenAI products and services on other websites." [1] It also said: "This does not impact your conversations in ChatGPT. Your conversations with ChatGPT are private and are not shared with marketing partners." [1]
WIRED reported that marketing settings were on by default for free users. [1] OpenAI said it may share limited identifiers such as cookie IDs or device IDs to make marketing more relevant and measure effectiveness, but users can opt out in settings. [1] Spokeswoman Taya Christianson said: "Nothing about our policy of not sharing people’s conversations or other private user content with advertisers has changed," and added that OpenAI works with select marketing partners to help people learn about its products on third-party websites and apps. [1]
The company had already started rolling out ads at the bottom of ChatGPT outputs for US users in February. [1] OpenAI said the latest policy update clarifies how its marketing work operates and how users can control it in settings. [1]
