OpenAI’s advertising business grows slowly

OpenAI’s ChatGPT advertising business has passed $1 billion in annualized revenue, but the milestone still leaves the company far from its stated target for 2026.

OpenAI said companies can now book advertisements directly through a dedicated tool in Europe, India, the Middle East and North Africa. In the United States, the platform has so far attracted mainly small and medium-sized businesses, which now account for a substantial share of the advertising operation.

The new figures drew a sharply divided assessment from Nate Elliott, an analyst at research firm Emarketer. He described them as “incredibly impressive and terribly disappointing.” In his view, the $1 billion figure suggested that OpenAI could miss its $2.5 billion advertising-revenue goal for 2026.

Advertising puts OpenAI in competition with Alphabet and Meta, whose annual advertising revenues reach hundreds of billions of dollars. OpenAI hopes the business will also support a planned U.S. stock-market listing. The company filed a confidential application for an initial public offering this year, and a debut is expected in 2027 or earlier.

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Incredibly impressive and terribly disappointing.