OpenAI has updated its privacy policy to enable cookies on ChatGPT's free version and will share "limited" user information with third parties. The AI firm said in an email to users that chats will remain private and will not be shared with marketing partners. This comes after OpenAI began rolling out ads in ChatGPT's outputs in February.

Despite chat data not being shared with third parties, information collected through user interactions with OpenAI’s services may be used to market its offerings, including ChatGPT, outside the platform.

 The move is aimed at converting free users and measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, with marketing settings found to be enabled by default for such users. The development comes as OpenAI expands its advertising initiatives within ChatGPT. The company began rolling out advertisements at the bottom of chatbot responses for users in the US in February, while competitors such as Google are also exploring ways to integrate advertising into generative AI experiences.

An OpenAI spokesperson said that the company’s policy of not sharing user conversations or private content with advertisers remains unchanged. She informed that OpenAI works with select marketing partners to promote its products on third-party platforms and has updated its privacy policy to clarify these practices. She added that while conversations are not shared, limited identifiers such as cookie IDs or device IDs may be used to make marketing efforts more relevant and to measure their effectiveness, with users given the option to opt out.