OpenAI's ad run-rate hits $1B as it poaches Meta talent, chases $2.4B target
What's the deal? OpenAI is building a dedicated advertising business inside ChatGPT, hiring aggressively from Meta's ads organisation as it scales the effort. The push is already running at roughly a $1 billion annualised ad revenue run-rate.
By the numbers: OpenAI has signed up around 60,000 advertisers so far. Its ads are notably cheaper than the market leader — click prices run around $5, compared with $30 to $50 for equivalent clicks on Google.
The hires: OpenAI's advertising team has grown to roughly 140 people, with nearly half hired between July and September 2026, much of it drawn from Meta's ads ranks. The pace reflects how fast the company is trying to stand up the business.
What could go wrong? Despite the rapid growth, OpenAI is still likely to miss the $2.4 billion 2026 advertising revenue target it had given to investors, according to The InformationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The gap between ambition and delivery could test investor patience.
The signal: OpenAI is moving to monetise ChatGPT's reach directly, positioning itself against Google and Meta on price while poaching their talent to do it. The build-out shows how central advertising is becoming to the economics of consumer AI.
Read more: The Information
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
