ChatGPT, the answer engine whose launch reshaped the digital ecosystem, surpassed a key milestone on Monday. It’s now on pace to generate more than $1 billion in advertising revenue over the next 12 months, according to the company.
The achievement, referred to as an annualized run rate, is meant to reflect the forward-looking growth of a particular line of business. It does so by extrapolating its current revenue into the future, which means that ChatGPT has not yet generated over $1 billion in annual advertising revenue but is on track to do so.
The company has previously said its goal is to surpass $2.3 billion in advertising revenue in 2026 and $100 billion by 2030.
The accomplishment, while qualified, is nonetheless a symbolic victory for the OpenAI product, which has been working to grow its advertising business to move it more quickly toward profitability.
OpenAI began testing ads inside ChatGPT in February, introduced an ads manager in March, and integrated with AppsFlyer in August.
The company now sees more than 1 billion weekly active users, 20% of whom show “commercial intent,” according to Colin Fleming, who joined the artificial intelligence firm in May as its chief marketing officer.
Its aggressive advertising build-out comes as the AI lab attempts to supplement subscription revenue, with losses continuing to outpace its gains. The company made nearly $10 billion in revenue in 2025, but its operating losses hit nearly $21 billion thanks to soaring compute costs, according to leaked financial documents.
The push to widen both its ad footprint and its enterprise business comes as OpenAI works toward a public listing. Its chief financial officer Sarah Friar reportedly told investors earlier this month that enterprise revenue has now overtaken consumer revenue, with its annual run rate topping $40 billion.
The concerted effort to stand up an advertising business serves as a key point of differentiation between OpenAI and its rival, Anthropic, which is also hurtling toward a debut on the public markets in the coming months. Anthopric has vowed never to bring advertising into its ecosystem, instead focusing its commercial strategy on serving the needs of enterprise clients that buy usage-based tokens.
Brands have experimented with advertising in ChatGPT since the ads product first launched. The company has sought to make the buying process more seamless, integrating with authoritative vendors in the space, like Adobe, Criteo, and LiveRamp, to bring measurement and attribution to its offering.
Still, the company has a lot of ground to cover before it comes close to realizing its audacious advertising goals, according to Nate Elliot, principal AI analyst at eMarketer.
