While continuing to push AI technology forward, OpenAI is taking a key commercialization step with its advertising business. According to the latest updates, roughly 2,000 brands have placed ads on ChatGPT through ad‑tech partner Criteo. This figure indicates that OpenAI’s AI‑native ad ecosystem, which began taking shape last year, is scaling quickly — enabling even small and medium‑sized businesses to reach a vast conversational‑AI user base through self‑serve tools.
As OpenAI extends its ad infrastructure to the UK market, businesses can now use the self‑serve "Ads Manager" to run campaigns inside ChatGPT. The feature was previously rolled out in France and other regions. Nathan Lam, a member of OpenAI’s marketing team, told NewStreet Research analysts that brands have an opportunity to build deeper connections with consumers through conversational interactions in ChatGPT. Analysts see this as OpenAI’s current core strategic direction.
Notably, OpenAI’s barrage of ad‑business updates during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity highlights its attempt to balance maintaining a technological edge with driving commercial monetization. On one hand, the company’s engineers are still accelerating model iterations; on the other, opening the ad platform signals OpenAI’s transition from a pure AI company toward an “AI‑era ad platform.” Whether this high‑risk shift succeeds depends on its ability to deliver quantifiable marketing value for small and mid‑sized businesses without compromising user experience.
Commentary: OpenAI’s partnership with mature ad‑tech providers like Criteo to quickly expand reach is a pragmatic move that reduces the risk of building an in‑house ad system from scratch. Moving forward, attention should focus on data privacy compliance and ad‑relevance control — these factors will determine whether ChatGPT can become the “next Google Search” for brand marketing.
