OpenAI's ChatGPT Ad Business Hits $1B Run Rate in 200 Days

OpenAI announced Monday that ChatGPT's advertising business has reached a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate, roughly 200 days after the company began testing ads with a small group of U.S. users in February 2026.

The ad program has expanded rapidly and is now live in more than 40 countries, including the United Kingdom, Japan, India and markets across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Ads appear for ChatGPT Go subscribers and users on the free tier, which together make up the bulk of ChatGPT's roughly 1 billion weekly active users. OpenAI said tens of thousands of advertisers are now buying space on the platform, many through agency partners including Omnicom and WPP.

OpenAI said the ads are clearly labeled, do not influence ChatGPT's answers, and that advertisers cannot access users' private conversations. The company is targeting $2.5 billion in ad revenue by the end of 2026 as it looks to diversify beyond subscriptions and enterprise API sales. The ad business is part of a broader revenue push that has pushed OpenAI's total annualized run rate past $40 billion as of mid-August 2026.

"Our next phase of growth will bring ChatGPT Ads to more markets and introduce additional formats, objectives, buying options, and measurement capabilities," OpenAI said in announcing the milestone, adding it would also explore new ways for businesses to interact with consumers "in more native ways" within ChatGPT.