By Sarah Perez
Publication Date: 2026-01-22 19:41:00
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said he’s “surprised” that OpenAI has already moved to introduce ads within its AI chatbot. In an interview with Axios at Davos, the AI leader was responding to a question about using ads to monetize AI services, saying the idea is something that the team at Google was thinking through “very carefully.”
Hassabis also said that his team wasn’t feeling pressure from the tech giant to make “a knee-jerk” decision around advertising, despite how key ads are to Google’s core business.
The DeepMind co-founder’s remarks followed Friday’s news that OpenAI will begin testing ads as a way to generate additional revenue from the portion of the AI chatbot’s 800 million weekly active users who don’t have a paid subscription.
While OpenAI may have been forced to consider ads, considering its growing infrastructure and energy costs, its decision could change how users view the service.
“I’m a little bit surprised…
