OpenAI hires Meta ad head

OpenAI has named Dave (David) Dugan as Vice President and Head of Global Ad Solutions, a move Dugan posted on LinkedIn and that was reported by The Wall Street Journal on March 23–24, 2026. (wsj.com) (magzter.com) Dugan spent more than a decade at Meta Platforms, most recently serving as Vice President of Global Clients and Agencies, and previously worked on the agency side at holding groups such as Publicis. (coincentral.com) (coincentral.com) According to reporting, Dugan will report into OpenAI’s chief operating officer, Brad Lightcap, positioning him inside the company’s commercial leadership as OpenAI scales advertiser relations. (computing.net) (computing.net) The hire comes after OpenAI began testing ads inside ChatGPT on February 9, 2026, a rollout OpenAI described as a limited U.S. test for logged‑in Free and Go tier users with paid tiers remaining ad‑free. (openai.com) (openai.com) OpenAI’s early ad pilot is already working with major agency holding companies including Omnicom, WPP and Dentsu and brands such as Best Buy, Expedia, Enterprise Mobility and Qualcomm, with early placements appearing in a tiny share of responses. (mediapost.com) (mediapost.com) Industry reporting and agency statements show the initial commercial terms are premium and exclusive—ads priced at roughly $60 CPM with reported minimum advertiser commitments around $200,000—and some early partners have flagged weak measurement and lower‑than‑expected click rates. (emarketer.com) (emarketer.com) Recruiting a senior Meta ad veteran who managed relationships with the world’s largest advertisers signals OpenAI is building a direct sales infrastructure aimed at enterprise buyers rather than a self‑serve ad network in the near term. (theinformation.com) (theinformation.com)