Serie A remains the most unpredictable of Europe's top 5 leagues as Napoli opens title defense

Expect the unexpected when the Italian league season kicks off this weekend.

Serie A has become the most unpredictable of Europe’s five biggest soccer leagues with four different champions over the last six seasons.

Add in that last season marked the second time in four years the title race went down to the last round and it could be considered the most competitive, too.

By comparison, only Liverpool or Manchester City have won the Premier League in the last eight seasons; Spain is mostly a two-team show with Real Madrid and Barcelona; Bayern Munich has won 12 of the last 13 Bundesliga titles; and Paris Saint-Germain is just as dominant in France.

So while Napoli is favored to repeat as champion this season, there’s a handful of serious challengers: Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Roma and Atalanta.

Napoli edged Inter by one point last season in a race that was so close it raised the possibility of a single-match playoff to determine the title — a rule that remains in place for this season if two teams finish level.

Here’s what to know about Serie A:

When Napoli won the title in 2023 it followed up the championship with a highly disappointing 10th place finish.

Demanding coach Antonio Conte, who was hired after the 2023-24 debacle, is not likely to permit a similar letdown as he begins his second season in charge of the southern club.

Kevin De Bruyne’s arrival from Manchester City could make for one of the finest midfields in Europe alongside Serie A MVP Scott McTominay and passing wizard Stanislav Lobotka.

But there is already concern with the club saying this week that striker Romelu Lukaku could require surgery for an injured left thigh muscle.

Inter should be motivated under new coach Cristian Chivu after seeing the possibility of a treble last season fall apart in spectacular fashion: A 5-0 rout by PSG in the Champions League final meant that the Nerazzurri went trophyless.

Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram remain one of the best strike tandems in Italy but Inter's bench remains thin.

A coaching carousel saw Milan rehire Massimiliano Allegri after missing out on Europe, Gian Piero Gasperini move his attack-minded tactics from Atalanta to Roma, and Maurizio Sarri back at Lazio a year after resigning his position at the capital club.

There are also four World Cup winners among the 20 coaches: Cesc Fabregas at Como (Spain, 2010); Patrick Vieira at Genoa (France, 1998), Alberto Gilardino at promoted Pisa (Italy, 2006) and Fabio Grosso at promoted Sassuolo (Italy, 2006).

Luka Modric’s transfer to Milan — the club he supported as a boy — after 13 seasons at Madrid, is not just a sentimental move, the 39-year-old former Ballon d’Or winner says.

Modric indicated that he won’t put up with a repeat of Milan’s eighth-place finish last season.

“Milan cannot be satisfied with average,” Modric said. “It needs to have (the) biggest goals possible, to win titles, to compete with the best teams in the world. And that’s why I’m here.”

Canada striker Jonathan David has impressed in the preseason after signing a five-year deal with Juventus.

“If he gets the ball, he scores,” Juventus coach Igor Tudor said.

The first impressions of the 25-year-old David have led Juventus to put center forward Dusan Vlahovic on the market.

A Serie A match between two teams located about 50 kilometers (30 miles) apart could be held in Australia later this season.

A plan is in motion for Milan and Como to play in Perth in February — when both Milan and Inter will have to go on a long road trip because of the Milan-Cortina Olympics. FIFA is yet to provide approval, though.

Also new this season: referees will announce VAR decisions live inside the stadiums.

The season kicks off Saturday with four matches: Genoa vs. Lecce; Sassuolo vs. Napoli; Milan vs. Cremonese; and Roma vs. Bologna. On Sunday, it’s: Cagliari vs. Fiorentina; Como vs. Lazio; Atalanta vs. Pisa; and Juventus vs. Parma. On Monday, it’s: Udinese vs. Hellas Verona; and Inter vs. Torino.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Napoli's Romelu Lukaku is taken out after an injury during a friendly soccer match between Napoli and Olympiakos at the Teofilo Patini Stadium in Castel Di Sangro, Italy, Thursday, Aug. 14 , 2025. (Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse via AP)

AC Milan's Rafael Leao celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the round of 64 of the Italian Cup soccer match between Milan and Bari, at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

Juventus' Jonathan David, front, scores during the Bortolotti trophy soccer match between Atalanta and Juventus, Saturday , Aug, 16, 2025, at Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, Italy. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

Napoli's Kevin De Bruyne celebrates after scoring during the pre-season friendly soccer match between Napoli and Girona at the Teofilo Patini Stadium in Castel Di Sangro, Italy, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025. (Alessandro Garofalo/LaPresse via AP)

OpenAI says it will soon start showing advertisements to ChatGPT users who aren't paying for a premium version of the chatbot.

The artificial intelligence company said Friday it hasn't yet rolled out ads but will start testing them in the coming weeks.

It's the latest effort by the San Francisco-based company to make money from ChatGPT's more than 800 million users, most of whom get it for free.

Though valued at $500 billion, the startup loses more money than it makes and has been looking for ways to turn a profit.

“Most importantly: ads will not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you,” said Fidji Simo, the company’s CEO of applications, in a social media post Friday.

OpenAI said the digital ads will appear at the bottom of ChatGPT's answers “when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current conversation.”

The ads “will be clearly labeled and separated from the organic answer,” the company said.

Two of OpenAI’s rivals, Google and Meta, have dominated digital advertising for years and already incorporate ads into some of their AI features.

Originally founded as a nonprofit with a mission to safely build better-than-human AI, OpenAI last year reorganized its ownership structure and converted its business into a public benefit corporation. It said Friday that its pursuit of advertising will be “always in support” of its original mission to ensure its AI technology benefits humanity.

But introducing personalized ads starts OpenAI “down a risky path” previously taken by social media companies, said Miranda Bogen of the Center for Democracy and Technology.

“People are using chatbots for all sorts of reasons, including as companions and advisors," said Bogen, director of CDT’s AI Governance Lab. “There’s a lot at stake when that tool tries to exploit users’ trust to hawk advertisers’ goods.”

OpenAI makes some money from paid subscriptions but needs more revenue to pay for its more than $1 trillion in financial obligations for the computer chips and data centers that power its AI services. The risk that OpenAI won’t make enough money to fulfill the expectations of backers like Oracle and Nvidia has amplified investor concerns about an AI bubble.

“It is clear to us that a lot of people want to use a lot of AI and don’t want to pay, so we are hopeful a business model like this can work,” said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in a post Friday on social platform X. He added that he likes the ads on Meta's Instagram because they show him things he wouldn't have found otherwise.

OpenAI claims it won't use a user's personal information or prompts to collect data for ads, but the question is “for how long,” said Paddy Harrington, an analyst at research group Forrester.

“Free services are never actually free and these public AI platforms need to generate revenue,” Harrington said. “Which leads to the adage: If the service is free, you’re the product.”

FILE - The OpenAI logo is displayed on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)