OpenAI aims for $100 billion ad business by 2030

OpenAI is targeting $100 billion in ad revenue by the end of the decade after launching ads in ChatGPT in February for users of its free and “go” tiers. Advertising chief David Dugan said the business is already generating $100 million in annualized revenue within six weeks of launch, with thousands of advertisers active across seven test markets: the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea.

The company is framing the effort as a shift from the attention economy to an intelligence economy, where task completion replaces impressions or time spent as a core measure of performance. OpenAI’s own data says 20% of ChatGPT queries carry direct commercial intent, a key part of the case for the ad business.

Reaching $100 billion would require ChatGPT to grow from roughly 900 million weekly active users today to 2.75 billion by 2030. OpenAI plans to expand into Brazil and Mexico in the coming weeks, with India to follow, while Dugan said ad revenue will help subsidize and expand access to information.