OpenAI is pushing its advertising business another step outward.
On May 7, Dave Dugan, OpenAI's global head of advertising, said ChatGPT ads would roll out over the coming weeks in the United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan, South Korea and Mexico. Together with the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, that brings the list of markets where advertisers can buy ChatGPT placements to nine.
The timing matters. OpenAI began a limited test on February 9 among Free and Go users in the United States. Barely three months later, it is already widening both the product and the geography.
How the $2.5 Billion Target Adds Up
The basic numbers explain the ambition:
- Since launch on February 9, monthly ad billings have held at about $109 million.
- OpenAI's internal forecast points to a near-term run rate of $500 million a month.
- The company's 2026 target is $2.5 billion.
In plain terms, the test has already produced an annualized business of roughly $1.3 billion, and OpenAI still wants to roughly double that this year. The levers are straightforward: expand into more countries and make the ad product feel more mature.
The U.S. Market Is Now Open
A related move came on May 5, when OpenAI opened the ChatGPT self-serve ads manager to all U.S. advertisers and removed the previous $50,000 minimum spend.
The buyer pool now ranges from small businesses and startups to the major agency groups Dentsu, Omnicom, Publicis and WPP.
Eligible categories currently cover six areas:
- home and consumer goods
- local services
- travel
- entertainment
- digital products
- education
The ad format is still simple: a small icon plus text, sold on CPC bidding. OpenAI has already launched a conversion-tracking pixel, is building a Conversions API and CPA bidding, and has promised third-party measurement without naming partners or a timeline.
Anyone who has worked in ads can see the pattern. OpenAI is recreating the basic toolset that made Google and Meta comfortable places to move budget.
"By adding things like an ads manager, CPC bidding, pixel measurement and CAPI, OpenAI is demonstrating that it understands the basic building blocks that are necessary for advertisers to feel comfortable testing on ChatGPT."
Put less formally: advertisers have run campaigns on Google and Meta for years, and OpenAI needs the same basic plumbing before those advertisers will shift meaningful spend.
Why the U.K., Brazil, Japan, South Korea and Mexico Come Next
Industry analysts point to two reasons for the first expansion group: these markets have concentrated online ad demand and large ChatGPT user bases. In other words, OpenAI is not using ads to acquire users. It is going where users and ad budgets already exist.
| Market | Status |
|---|---|
| United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand | Running for three months |
| United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Mexico | Rolling out over the coming weeks |
| European Union | No timetable announced |
The EU's absence is not hard to read. Between the AI Act and digital advertising regulation, OpenAI's promise to keep ads separate from answers still needs to line up with regulators.
"As we expand thoughtfully, we're focused on learning what works best for users and advertisers in each region while staying grounded in the principles that matter most to us: answer independence, privacy, and user control."
Those three promises are central to OpenAI's pitch. Ads should not influence ChatGPT's answers, they are labeled as sponsored, and they are visually separated from native responses. Advertisers receive aggregated impression and click data, not chat logs.
The design is meant to avoid the mistake that hurt paid search for years: letting paid results contaminate the product experience.
Why This Move Is Worth Watching
Ads in ChatGPT were still an internal debate last year. Now, after three months, the product is producing a run rate near $1.3 billion. That is a sharp turn from Sam Altman's earlier statement that ChatGPT would not have ads.
The more important signal is the rollout pattern. OpenAI put ads first on Free and Go, leaving Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education ad-free. It started with a small advertiser whitelist, then opened self-serve buying and added five markets. This is being run like product iteration, not a one-time ad blast.
The playbook looks familiar: Google AdWords between 2002 and 2005.
Whether OpenAI can reach $2.5 billion will be clearer in six months. What is already clear is that advertising will reshape ChatGPT over the next year: which brands appear, how CPCs are priced, and how often sponsored units can show before users push back. OpenAI now has to scale the business without damaging the product experience.
Sources: CocoLoop, "Expand thoughtfully": OpenAI offers ChatGPT ads to new markets including the U.K., Brazil and Japan (Digiday); OpenAI opens up ChatGPT ads manager to the U.S. while promising third-party measurement, CPA bidding (Digiday); New ways to buy ChatGPT ads (OpenAI official blog)