OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads to Asia as 19-week-old advertising business gains momentum

OpenAI to introduce ads to ChatGPT in Japan

U.S. artificial intelligence developer OpenAI said Friday that it has begun a trial for displaying advertisements in its ChatGPT generative AI chatbot for users in Japan. The ads will appear on the free version and the Go plan, priced at ¥1,400 per month, but will not be shown to users under 18 or who subscribe to higher-priced tiers. The trial is aimed at expanding OpenAI's revenue sources amid cutthroat competition in AI development, which requires huge investment. Ads related to ChatGPT responses will be displayed in a separate section, but their content will not influence the chatbot's answers. OpenAI will collaborate with Japanese marketing company Dentsu Digital and other partners to provide ads in Japan. The AI powerhouse began testing ad displays on ChatGPT in the United States in February and has gradually expanded the trial to other countries. In May, the company announced plans to roll it out in five countries, including Japan, within weeks.

OpenAI Touts Progress in 19-Week-Old Ad Business | PYMNTS.com

The artificial intelligence (AI) startup is making its inaugural appearance at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this week. As Ad Exchanger reported Tuesday (June 23), the company is using the event to showcase what Dave Dugan, OpenAI's head of global ads solutions, described as "an entirely new ads product [and] an entirely new experience." "Why does someone open the ChatGPT app?" Dugan asked reporters. "They want to do research, they want to solve a problem, they want to get information on a particular topic. They're not coming to ChatGPT to scroll." The report noted Dugan's career as an executive at Meta, which took 17 years to surpass $100 billion in ad revenue, while OpenAI has reportedly told investors it will reach that goal within the next four years. However, the company stressed that its ad business is still just getting started, having just launched 19 weeks ago, Ad Exchanger added. "It's like a baby; for a while, you talk about how old your baby is in weeks," said Dugan. Still, the report noted, things are progressing quickly. Since February, the company has introduced its ads pilot in the U.S., debuted an ad manager in beta and added international markets, such as the U.K. and Australia. In addition, the report said, OpenAI has switched from selling ads solely on a cost-per-mile (CPM) basis to also giving advertisers a cost-per-click option, which now makes up most of the ad spending on the platform. "We are clearly in the advertising business now," said Denise Dresser, the company's chief revenue officer. Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote last week about findings from the digital data research platform Similarweb which showed that 83% of the queries triggering ads inside ChatGPT would never have activated a Google Shopping ad. This gap "isn't incidental, it's structural," the report said, noting that AI assistants are reaching shoppers at stages in the buying journey that keyword-based search wasn't meant to monetize. "The difference is how each system reads intent. Google Shopping matches ads to declared product queries," PYMNTS added. "ChatGPT surfaces ads during problem-solving conversations, research sessions and multi-turn exchanges, where commercial intent develops gradually rather than arriving pre-labeled." Research by PYMNTS Intelligence found that 47% of online shoppers employed AI during their most recent purchase. ChatGPT's share as a product research tool climbed from 2% to 30% in two years, the same research showed.

OpenAI brings ChatGPT ads to Korea, keeps paid plans ad-free - The Korea Times

OpenAI said Friday it has expanded its ChatGPT advertising pilot program to Korea, making it the sixth market to feature ads after the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Ads will appear only for adult users on ChatGPT's free and Go tiers. Users on paid plans -- Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu -- will not see advertisements. OpenAI said it is applying three core principles to the rollout: keeping ChatGPT's responses independent from advertiser influence, protecting user conversation data and personal information from advertisers and giving users control over their ad experience. Ads will be clearly labeled as "sponsored content" and kept visually separate from ChatGPT's generated responses. Advertisers will have access only to aggregated performance metrics such as impressions and clicks, and will not be able to view individual users' conversation history or personal data. Users can hide ads, submit feedback and manage ad personalization settings directly within the app. Ads will not be shown to accounts identified or predicted to belong to minors, and will not appear in conversations involving sensitive topics such as mental health or politics. "OpenAI's mission is to ensure that AI (artificial intelligence) benefits all of humanity," said Kim Kyoung-hoon, general manager of OpenAI Korea. "Advertising can help expand access to ChatGPT's useful AI capabilities for more people without cost barriers." OpenAI said it will continue refining the ad experience based on user feedback gathered during the pilot. This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.

OpenAI Showcases ChatGPT Ads and Codex at Cannes Lions Ahead of Planned IPO

OpenAI has taken its advertising plans to Cannes Lions, the global marketing event. The company presented ChatGPT ads and its Codex coding tool to marketers as it seeks new revenue sources before a planned public listing. OpenAI executives met marketers at the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The company explained how brands could place contextual ads inside ChatGPT and use AI tools to manage campaigns. Reports said Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser and advertising executive David Dugan attended. ChatGPT began in February 2026 to users on its free and Go plans. The ads appear as marked sponsored content below responses, while the main answer stays separate. OpenAI has said around 20% of ChatGPT queries may carry commercial intent, reaching users researching products and services.