ChatGPT Launches Ads Manager

On May 5, 2026, OpenAI officially launched the beta version of its self-service advertising management tool, Ads Manager, in the United States. Advertisers in the U.S. can now register and purchase ad placements directly within ChatGPT.

When ChatGPT provides a response, a sponsored ad will appear below the answer, clearly distinguishing it from the original content.

This move follows a series of advertising tests that began in February 2026, initially in the U.S. and later expanding to Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. According to a company spokesperson, the pilot project in the U.S. generated over $100 million in annualized revenue within just six weeks.

OpenAI has ambitious revenue targets, projecting $2.5 billion in advertising revenue by 2026 and aiming for $100 billion by 2030. For context, Google is expected to generate over $300 billion in advertising revenue in 2025, while Meta is projected to approach $200 billion.

OpenAI is now entering the advertising space traditionally dominated by giants like Meta and Google. Despite its main competitor, Anthropic, rejecting advertising, established players cannot afford to ignore this shift. Recently, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, announced that its AI product, Gemini, will incorporate advertising features. Meta also revealed plans to test advertising with its AI assistant, Meta AI, in the third quarter of 2026. Additionally, Microsoft has integrated advertising into its Copilot, and Amazon’s AI shopping assistant has opened up sponsored responses to brands.

The digital advertising landscape is evolving, with AI becoming a new entry point for search and traffic. As chatbots replace traditional search engines, AI model developers are increasingly viewing advertising as a monetization path.

OpenAI’s weekly active user base has reached 900 million, creating a substantial potential advertising market as users engage with ChatGPT and its generated content.

From OpenAI’s perspective, monetizing through advertising is becoming increasingly urgent. The costs associated with developing large models are substantial; in 2025, OpenAI’s revenue was $13 billion, but it faced cash losses of $8 billion. While the user base is large, monetization efficiency is relatively limited, with only about 5% of the 900 million weekly active users being individual subscribers, totaling around 50 million. There are also over 9 million paid enterprise users.

Meanwhile, Anthropic, OpenAI’s main competitor, has shown strong growth, driven by enterprise and developer revenue. Last year, Anthropic’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) surged to approximately $30 billion, surpassing OpenAI. Each monthly active user contributes about $211, which is eight times higher than OpenAI’s $25.

For OpenAI, which has plans to go public, demonstrating its commercialization capabilities has become increasingly critical. The company has made several adjustments to its business model, with advertising monetization being a key strategic direction. Recently, OpenAI discontinued Sora and ChatGPT shopping features while enhancing its B2B offerings.

In February 2026, ChatGPT became the first mainstream AI chatbot to open advertising, charging based on cost per thousand impressions (CPM), starting at $60. The pilot project achieved over $100 million in annualized revenue within six weeks, primarily from less than 20% of free and Go subscription users in the U.S., with over 600 advertisers participating.

The newly launched self-service advertising platform allows for cost-per-click (CPC) billing in addition to the initial CPM model, and the previous minimum ad spend requirement of $50,000 has been removed, opening access to all advertisers across the U.S.

OpenAI plans to support more billing and optimization options in the future, enabling advertisers to bid based on their key performance indicators. According to OpenAI’s projections, advertising revenue is expected to grow from $2.5 billion in 2026 to $100 billion by 2030.

As chatbots increasingly become a new search and traffic entry point, the advertising industry is undergoing significant changes. Giants like Google and Meta are also entering this space to defend their positions and capture market share.

On May 2, 2026, Alphabet’s Chief Business Officer, Philipp Schindler, confirmed during a quarterly earnings call that Gemini will incorporate advertising features. He noted that the high costs of training and operating AI models make advertising a core method for serving billions of users while keeping the product free or low-cost.

However, the underlying concern remains: if users shift from traditional search to directly querying AI, how long can Google’s $300 billion advertising empire maintain its foundation?

Meta is also taking action. In April 2026, the social advertising giant announced that its AI assistant, Meta AI, would begin advertising trials in the third quarter, focusing on personalized recommendations in social contexts.

Unlike Google, which has cloud services, Meta relies heavily on advertising revenue. Competition from TikTok in the short video space and the potential diversion of social engagement to AI chatbots threaten its business model. Consequently, Meta is exploring advertising integration within AI conversations, linking it with ads on Facebook and Instagram.

Not all AI companies are embracing advertising, however. Anthropic firmly rejects monetization through ads, arguing that accepting advertising compromises the neutrality of AI. During the 2026 Super Bowl, Anthropic aired two satirical ads with the tagline: “Ads are flooding into AI, but not Claude.”

Anthropic’s confidence stems from its fundamentally different business model, with about 80% of its revenue coming from enterprise clients, negating the need to support free users through advertising.

Regardless, the AI industry is undeniably moving into the advertising era. How AI advertising will be implemented and reshape the digital advertising landscape remains to be seen.