OpenAI’s ChatGPT ad business reaches $1 billion annualized revenue

OpenAI’s ChatGPT advertising business has reached an annualized revenue pace of $1 billion. Since beginning U.S. testing in February, the advertising group has undergone seven reorganizations. The operation currently employs approximately 140 people, with significant hiring from companies like Meta.

OpenAI has expanded its ad availability to over 60 countries. The platform offers a beta Ads Manager for self-service purchases, including cost-per-click bidding and campaign measurement tools. Advertising is positioned as a key revenue stream alongside subscriptions, enterprise offerings, and API usage, though ads remain separate from ChatGPT’s direct answers.

In a related development, Thrad has committed $1 million in advertising spend toward AI chat applications that are testing in-chat advertisement models.