ChatGPT Ads starts rolling out in Malaysia for Free and Go users

OpenAI began rolling out advertising inside ChatGPT in Malaysia on 23 September 2026. It named Malaysia alongside Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan, following earlier launches in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and India. The company says ChatGPT Ads now run in more than 60 countries.[1]

For Malaysian users, the change affects only the Free and Go plans. For Malaysian businesses, it opens a new place to reach customers while they ask an AI assistant for help, for example when choosing software, planning a trip or furnishing a home.[1]

OpenAI lists three routes. Large advertisers can work with its Ads Solutions team or with agency groups including dentsu, Havas Media, Omnicom Media, Publicis Groupe and WPP. Technology partners offer another route. Smaller firms can use Ads Manager, OpenAI's self-service tool, which the company says is open to eligible businesses.[1]

The help centre adds a condition that matters for regional groups. To use self-service Ads Manager, the legal entity that advertises and is billed must be based in a country marked as available. Malaysia is marked available, so a company registered here should be able to sign up directly.[2]

Ads are shown only to people on the Free and Go plans. Plus, Pro and Enterprise subscribers will not see them. OpenAI presents advertising as a way to fund free and low-cost access, and says ads are clearly labelled, sit apart from ChatGPT's answers and do not influence what the assistant says.[1]

Its published ads principles go further. OpenAI says it keeps conversations private from advertisers, never sells user data to them, and lets people turn off ad personalisation and clear the data used for ads. When it first set out the plan in January 2026, it said test ads would not appear near health, mental health or politics.[5]

The expansion follows quick growth. On 31 August 2026 OpenAI said ChatGPT Ads had reached US$1 billion in annualised revenue run rate less than 200 days after launch, with tens of thousands of advertisers. It said small and medium-sized businesses became a material share of the business after Ads Manager opened in May.[3]

The same update said cost-per-click and outcome-based bidding now make up most campaigns, supported by product feeds, geographic targeting and custom audiences. OpenAI cited an unnamed online retailer that earned three times its ad spend over 28 days. That example comes from OpenAI and has not been independently checked.[3]

A week earlier, OpenAI added AI help inside Ads Manager that suggests copy and images from a landing page. Advertisers can also opt in to text that adapts to the conversation and is translated into the user's preferred language. In a market that moves between English, Malay and Chinese, that could matter, but OpenAI has not listed supported languages.[4]

OpenAI also said its ChatGPT Ads app for Shopify, first offered to US merchants, would open internationally from 23 September in markets where the ads run. Sponsored Agents, which let a user chat with a business's own agent after clicking an ad, are still being tested only with select advertisers in the United States.[4]