OpenAI began testing ads in ChatGPT in the United States in February, opening a new front in the race to turn generative AI’s enormous audiences into durable revenue. The move drew a sharp contrast with rival Anthropic, which mocked the strategy in its first Super Bowl campaign and promised to keep Claude ad-free.¹

On Wednesday, OpenAI said it would bring ads to ChatGPT Free users and Go subscribers in 26 more countries, including Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Nigeria, South Africa, Serbia, Ukraine, Bangladesh and Pakistan. That expansion takes ChatGPT Ads to 89 markets worldwide.²

The company’s case is that advertising will sit alongside—not inside—the chatbot’s reasoning. Ads are separate from prompt responses, clearly labelled and do not influence answers, OpenAI said. Its stated aim is to make advertising “useful to people as they pursue their goals and make decisions — and effective for the businesses that advertise with us.”¹

The commercial logic is increasingly clear. OpenAI’s ad operation reached a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate in August, up from $100 million in March, according to the report, while more than 100,000 advertisers have run campaigns. Advertising now joins consumer subscriptions, enterprise deals and API usage as part of the company’s diversification drive.¹

For users, the rollout marks a broader shift: ChatGPT is no longer only a tool for asking questions, but a place where OpenAI expects people to discover and weigh products and services. The company says it will next develop new ad formats, measurement tools and buying options—signalling that this is an early expansion, not the end point.¹