OpenAI's advertising revenue rose to $1 billion on an annualized basis

The advertising business, launched about half a year ago, is already on track to generate $1 billion in revenue (revenue run rate) for ChatGPT’s developer, OpenAI, over the course of a full year, the company reported. It cites this milestone as confirmation of its “diversified business model.”

Advertising on ChatGPT is now available in more than 40 countries. On Monday, OpenAI gave advertisers in India, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa direct access to Ads Manager—a platform for buying and managing ads on ChatGPT. Ads within the chatbot are shown to users of the free version of ChatGPT and Go plan subscribers—these groups account for the vast majority of the service’s 1 billion weekly active users, according to CNBC. At the same time, ads are clearly labeled and do not influence ChatGPT’s responses, and advertisers do not have access to users’ private conversations with the chatbot, OpenAI emphasizes.

“In the next phase of growth, we’ll launch advertising on ChatGPT in other countries, as well as add new ad formats, campaign objectives, ad buying options, and tools for measuring ad performance,” according to a statement from OpenAI. “We will explore new ways to enable companies to engage with consumers more naturally within ChatGPT.”

OpenAI began testing ads in ChatGPT in the U.S. in February. This decision was both long-awaited and controversial, according to CNBC. Sam Altman, CEO of the AI developer, had previously stated that he was against integrating ads into the chatbot—saying it would only be a last resort—but in early 2026, the company ultimately went ahead with the plan and announced it would begin running ads. By 2030, advertising could become a $25 billion-a-year business for ChatGPT’s creator and pose a serious threat to Google, Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mehani wrote in January.

Showing ads to users on free plans complements OpenAI’s existing revenue streams: enterprise products, consumer subscriptions, and pay-per-computational-usage access to neural networks, CNBC notes. The AI company is facing pressure from investors who expect it to justify its $852 billion valuation, so it is looking for new ways to monetize, the network explains.

In mid-August, ChatGPT’s founder told investors that the company’s revenue in the previous quarter had risen 18% from the quarter before, to $6.7 billion, while losses increased, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources. These results disappointed some OpenAI shareholders, who had hoped the AI lab would show greater progress in its efforts to catch up with its competitor—Anthropic, the world’s most valuable AI startup—according to WSJ sources. During the same period, Anthropic’s revenue more than doubled, reaching $11.6 billion—marking the first time the company’s sales surpassed those of ChatGPT’s creator. In addition, Anthropic posted a small operating profit.

Both OpenAI and Anthropic plan to go public in the coming months. Anthropic's IPO could take place as early as October, while OpenAI's shares could go public in 2027.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor