PLAY PODCASTS
Sam Altman said ads were a "last resort." Welcome to last resort
Episode 668

Sam Altman said ads were a "last resort." Welcome to last resort

Daybreak

January 21, 202612m 15s

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (media.transistor.fm) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

Sam Altman called ads a "last resort" in late 2024. That day has arrived.

OpenAI just announced ChatGPT is running ads—personalised ones based on your conversations. The company spent $8 billion in 2025 alone with zero profit, and an essay predicted they'll burn through cash by 2027.

Meanwhile, Google's Gemini is betting on staying ad-free, preserving user trust while ChatGPT strains it.

Host Rachel Varghese breaks down the enshittification playbook, why OpenAI's "code red" memo signals desperation, and whether ads can actually save a company hemorrhaging billions.

Tune in.

Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

Topics

newstechnologybusinessThe Ken