ChatGPT Will Show Product Ads While Users Wait for Images

ChatGPT users in the United States will soon see display ads while the chatbot generates an image for them, according to a report from The Decoder.

The new ad format places product carousels on the loading screen that appears during image generation. Instead of an empty wait between prompt and result, users will be shown a rotating selection of sponsored product placements.

The move puts advertising directly inside one of ChatGPT's most-used creative features, and it signals that loading time — previously dead time in the interface — is now being treated as monetizable inventory.

What exactly will users see?

According to The Decoder's report, the format works as follows:

• Display ads appear during the image generation process
• The ads take the form of product carousels
• The rollout applies to ChatGPT users in the US

The report does not specify which advertisers are participating, what the ads will cost, or whether the format will expand beyond the United States.

Why does this matter?

The placement is notable because it converts a functional pause in the product — the seconds a user waits for an image to render — into a surface for commerce. Image generation loading screens command sustained, uninterrupted user attention. That makes them attractive to advertisers in a way that conventional chat responses, which users read and scroll past quickly, may not be.

For OpenAI, the format represents another step in building out an advertising business on top of ChatGPT, which has historically been monetized through subscriptions and API access. Whether users will tolerate ads inserted into a generative workflow remains an open question — one that this US rollout will effectively test.

What don't we know yet?

The Decoder's report leaves several questions unanswered:

• Whether paid ChatGPT subscribers will see these ads or will be exempt
• Which advertisers or product categories are involved at launch
• How long the carousels display relative to image generation time
• Whether the format will extend to other countries or other ChatGPT features

Those details will determine whether this stays a limited experiment or becomes a structural part of how ChatGPT operates.

For now, the direction is clear: OpenAI is finding new surfaces inside ChatGPT where attention can be sold, and the image generation loading screen is the latest one.