OpenAI Begins ChatGPT Ad Tests With Target, Adobe Among First Participants

OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT beyond subscriptions by introducing advertising in India, a vast and price-sensitive market for digital services. Ads will appear on the Free and lower-cost Go tiers, giving the company another way to offset the heavy computing costs of generative AI. The move could also reshape how brands reach consumers through conversational products, while testing whether advertising can coexist with user trust and the quality of ChatGPT’s responses.

OpenAI said it will begin showing ads to ChatGPT Free and Go users in India and is working with agencies including WPP and Omnicom. The country has surpassed 100 million weekly active ChatGPT users, providing substantial scale for the company’s initial advertising push. OpenAI also plans to launch an ad-management platform in September 2026, enabling advertisers to create and manage campaigns as the company accelerates efforts to monetize its rapidly growing audience.

OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT beyond a conversational AI service into a potential digital advertising channel, using a self-service ad management platform to make campaigns easier to launch. The shift matters because ChatGPT’s large user base could give marketers an alternative to established search and social platforms, while creating a new revenue stream for OpenAI. Software companies appear best positioned to test the format early because they already target digitally engaged business and developer audiences.

The number of active advertisers on ChatGPT jumped 46% within one week after OpenAI lowered the barrier to entry through its self-service system. Most of the 10 largest advertisers are B2B SaaS, productivity software and developer-tool brands, indicating that technology vendors are leading the initial market. Major retailers, however, have yet to commit meaningfully and remain on the sidelines as they assess campaign performance, audience fit and potential returns.