OpenAI Ad Business Hits $1 Billion Run Rate in 200 Days as IPO Pressure Builds
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Aug 31
OpenAI Ad Business Hits $1 Billion Run Rate in 200 Days as IPO Pressure Builds
3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Aug 31
Summary
$1 billion in annualized revenue run rate marks OpenAI's latest milestone, reached roughly 200 days after it began building an ad business around ChatGPT.
OpenAI is pitching the result as evidence of a diversified model ahead of an expected IPO, as it faces pressure to support its $852 billion valuation.
ChatGPT Ads, first tested in the U.S. in February, now run in more than 40 countries, with self-service access expanding Monday across India, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
Ads appear for Go subscribers and the free tier, which accounts for most of ChatGPT's 1 billion weekly active users; OpenAI said ads are labeled, do not affect answers and do not expose private chats.
The push extends OpenAI beyond enterprise software, subscriptions and APIs into a market long dominated by Google and Meta, despite early criticism from rival Anthropic.