OpenAI has surpassed $100 million in annualised ad revenue in just six weeks from its ongoing ChatGPT Ads trial.
According to a company spokesperson, the revenue has been generated from less than 20% of eligible US-based Free and Go tier users seeing ads daily.
As almost 85% of Free and Go tier users are eligible to see ads, the spokesperson suggested the current revenue represents only a small fraction of ChatGPT’s broader advertising potential.
With more than 600 advertisers now on the platform, OpenAI appears ready to ramp-up its advertising capacity.
Self-service advertising is set to launch in April – which will open access to the broader advertising market – a geographical expansion of the pilot is underway and former Meta staffer Dave Dugan has been hired to lead OpenAI’s global advertising solutions.
While some experts and competitors have raised concerns about how consumers will respond to the new ad format, OpenAI claims it is seeing “no impact on consumer trust metrics, low dismissal rates of ads, and ongoing improvements in the relevance of ads as we learn from feedback”.
According to the company, fewer than 7% of ads are rated by users as “low relevance”.
For advertisers, these early returns and plans for self-service ads in the near future represent an opportunity to jump on ChatGPT Ads just as its inventory increases. As eligible audiences expand, the platform’s revenue could scale quickly.
Last week, it was revealed that OpenAI is set to raise $120 billion in a funding round backed by a diverse group of investors, including T. Rowe Price, D.E. Shaw Ventures, TPG, and Abu Dhabi’s MGX.
In addition to investment funding, OpenAI generates revenue from paid subscriptions, with roughly 60% coming from consumers and 40% from enterprise clients.
Source: Performance Marketing World
