Even Great Technology Has to Be Free With Ads
The TBPN hosts say paid-only AI hits a household budget wall, and they run an ad-supported business OpenAI just bought.
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway · The Week | Is the Market Rigged for Insiders?John Kugan and Jordie Hayes run TBPN, a daily online show about tech and business from Los Angeles that OpenAI bought this spring. Asked on another podcast why OpenAI would buy an 18-month-old show, they said the answer went back to advertising.
When reports that ChatGPT might carry ads drew a backlash, with many people saying they disliked ads, the hosts were contrarian supporters. In their words, “we think ads can make things free.”
In their account, scale is the reason an artificial intelligence company needs a version supported by advertising. People in Silicon Valley, looking around, assume every household can afford a $20 monthly bill for software.
They offered a different picture of American households from streaming video. People will drop even a cheap monthly service the moment there is nothing they love to watch, and they said that habit is why a paid-only product would struggle to reach everyone.
They also trace weak public enthusiasm to how the technology was sold. Before AI became an everyday tool, labs leaned on scary predictions to attract the investment to build models, and by the middle of last year it was clear to them that approach would sour opinion.
The hosts speak from inside the model they praise. TBPN had about 11 employees and made $5 million in advertising revenue last year, while expecting to bring in over $30 million this year on about 70,000 viewers per episode. OpenAI bought the show this spring, so their pro-ad argument comes with a financial stake in ads working.
Questions people ask
Does ChatGPT have a free version and a paid version, and does it show ads?
ChatGPT offers a free tier with limits and paid plans including Plus at $20 a month plus higher priced Pro and business plans with more capacity and features. As of early 2026, ChatGPT itself did not show traditional display ads, though OpenAI leaders had discussed exploring advertising. The rumor in the story was about adding such an ad-supported option alongside the subscriptions.
Why would ads help an AI product reach more people?
In general, a free ad-supported tier typically reaches more people because there is no price to try it. Subscriptions typically earn more per user, so many consumer tech companies run both side by side.