OpenAI’s advertising business has reached a $1 billion annualised revenue run rate as the company expands its ChatGPT Ads offering to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), alongside India and Europe.
Starting August 31, advertisers in India, Europe and MENA can purchase ChatGPT advertising directly through OpenAI’s self-service Ads Manager, which was previously available in the United States.
The expansion marks a significant step in OpenAI’s push into the global advertising market, as the company looks to diversify its revenue and accelerate growth ahead of a potential initial public offering (IPO).
OpenAI said advertisers outside the US now account for a growing share of its advertising revenue, although it did not disclose specific figures for individual regions. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) also represent a “material share” of the advertising business, with Ads Manager helping attract smaller advertisers to the platform.
For MENA, the rollout brings ChatGPT Ads into a region where digital advertising and AI adoption are expanding rapidly. The announcement means advertisers across the region can now access OpenAI’s self-service advertising platform, although the company has not disclosed specific launch dates, ad formats or available inventory for individual MENA markets, including the UAE.
ChatGPT Ads are currently displayed to users on ChatGPT’s free tier and the lower-priced Go plan. OpenAI says the advertisements are clearly labelled and do not influence ChatGPT’s answers. Advertisers also do not have access to users’ private conversations.
OpenAI began testing advertisements in the US earlier this year. In April, the company said its US advertising pilot had crossed a $100 million annualised revenue run rate within six weeks of launch.
The latest $1 billion figure is an annualised revenue run rate rather than revenue already booked for the year. The advertising operation is also still relatively young, with CNBC describing it as roughly 200 days old.
The rapid increase has nevertheless highlighted the scale of OpenAI’s advertising ambitions. EMarketer AI analyst Nate Elliott described the $1 billion milestone as “incredibly impressive and terribly disappointing”, arguing that the figure suggests OpenAI is falling well short of its reported $2.5 billion advertising revenue target for 2026.
The company is entering a market dominated by Alphabet’s Google and Meta, both of which generate hundreds of billions of dollars in advertising revenue annually.
For MENA advertisers, the expansion provides another major digital platform through which brands can reach consumers while they are interacting with generative AI. The rollout also gives smaller businesses access to a self-service advertising model rather than relying solely on larger, agency-led campaigns.
OpenAI’s advertising push comes as the company prepares for a potential public listing. It confidentially filed for a US IPO earlier this year, with reports suggesting that it could go public in 2027 or sooner.
For users in MENA, the immediate impact is expected to be limited to the introduction of advertisements on the free and Go tiers of ChatGPT. OpenAI has not indicated that the rollout will change ChatGPT’s availability, pricing or privacy settings in the region.
