SAN FRANCISCO – OpenAI said its ChatGPT Ads business has reached $1 billion in annualized revenue run rate.
The milestone was reached about 200 days after the AI startup began testing ads in ChatGPT in the United States. That rollout has now been extended to more than 40 countries.
Small and midsize businesses represent “a material share of the business,” the company said earlier this week.
“The platform is now used by tens of thousands of advertisers and continues to expand globally,” OpenAI said. “Starting later today, advertisers can purchase ChatGPT ads directly via Ads Manager across India, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.”
Many of OpenAI’s largest customers are using ChatGPT Ads to target audiences across multiple markets, the company said.
“We began with a managed-sales, agency, and partner-led model,” OpenAI said in its press release. “Since then, we have expanded our ecosystem to more than 50 technology and measurement partners.”
At launch, OpenAI worked with a small group of advertisers before broadening through agency and technology partners including Omnicom, WPP Media, Criterio, Adobe and Pacvue.
The company has begun rolling out a beta self-serve Ads Manager that lets businesses create and manage ad campaigns directly, using cost-per-click bidding and expanded measurement to independently buy and measure campaign performance.
Ads in ChatGPT are clearly labeled and have no influence on the chatbot’s answers, according to the company.
OpenAI officials last spring told investors it expected its ad business to bring in $2.5 billion in revenue this year, with annual revenue from the service jumping to $100 billion by the end of the decade.
OpenAI has filed for a U.S. initial public offering and expects to go public in the coming months.
