History repeats itself. Look at how ads transformed every major internet platform before it—they all started ad-free, then monetization kicked in. The pattern's pretty clear by now. ChatGPT? Don't expect it to be different. The economics simply don't work otherwise. Free services need revenue models, and advertising is the easiest path. Whether users like it or not, the precedent's already been set across social media, search engines, video platforms. If the AI arms race keeps heating up, ad-supported models might be unavoidable for even the most idealistic platforms.