Thrad doubles ad-spend program to $1M to seed in-chat AI advertising
What's the deal? Thrad, a San Francisco advertising platform for AI conversations, has launched Monetization Fund II, committing up to $1 million in advertiser spend to consumer AI apps and publishers that test ads inside their chat interfaces. It is not an equity fund or cash grant — selected apps receive campaign budgets routed through Thrad's demand-side platform (DSP). Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Why now? AI developers face rising costs with every user interaction, and many users won't pay for subscriptions. "As these services scale, costs add up quickly, from development to the tokens powering every interaction, and many users simply won't pay for a subscription," said Andrea Tortella, co-founder and chief executive officer of Thrad.
What's the endgame? The fund aims to let apps test advertising as a sustainable business model, connecting developers with demand from Fortune 500 brands. Participating apps can run native, sponsored placements inside conversations, with disclosure intended to let users distinguish ads from the AI's organic responses. It doubles Thrad's first program, launched in December 2025 with $500,000 in advertiser spend.
Thrad evaluates apps on their potential to generate advertising revenue, including whether they have an established user base. Terms on eligibility, ad formats, revenue sharing, and measurement are posted on its site. The announcement itself does not state how the $1 million is split, whether there is a per-app cap, or how long the program runs.
Expanding footprint: Thrad said it recently expanded its presence in San Francisco, where its team works directly with AI developers and sponsored pitch events during SF Tech Week and Advertising Week New York. It also launched two advertiser tools, Thrad Self-Serve and Thrad Autopilot.
What could go wrong? The in-chat ad format remains unproven at scale. Estimates suggest most "AI advertising" spend still goes to ads alongside AI-generated search results, not inside chatbot conversations.
The signal: The program reflects a broader shift from experimentation toward commercial rollout. OpenAI says ChatGPTDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → advertising reached a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate in under 200 days, and Amazon has begun testing an ad integration with ChatGPT. Thrad's move is a modest attempt to seed supply and test a new format — not proof that conversational ads have become a scalable revenue model.
Read more: AP News
Image credit: Artem Beliaikin
