OpenAI’s ad push and shakeup
Reporting says OpenAI has already generated roughly $100 million from ads inside ChatGPT as it pilots commercial discovery, and Reuters separately reported a security issue tied to a third-party developer tool that did not expose user data. Multiple outlets also note three senior OpenAI infrastructure leaders are moving to Meta. (futurism.com) (reuters.com) (newsbytesapp.com)
OpenAI is turning ChatGPT into an ad business while dealing with a security scare and new departures to Meta. (openai.com) OpenAI said on March 26 that its ads pilot inside ChatGPT was showing “encouraging” early results, and CNBC reported on March 26 that the pilot had already passed $100 million in annual recurring revenue less than two months after launch in the United States. (openai.com) (cnbc.com) The company began testing ads on February 9 for free ChatGPT users and ChatGPT Go subscribers in the United States, saying sponsored placements would be clearly labeled and kept separate from the model’s organic answers. (openai.com) That shift puts advertising next to subscriptions and application programming interface sales as OpenAI looks for ways to fund the computing costs of running ChatGPT at scale. Reuters reported in 2024 that OpenAI expected about $3.7 billion in revenue that year and projected much larger losses tied to infrastructure spending. (reuters.com) (openai.com) The ad push is landing as OpenAI says it found a security issue involving Axios, a third-party developer tool used in software building, but found no evidence that user data was accessed, its systems were compromised, or its software was altered. OpenAI published that statement on April 10, and Reuters reported the same day that the company was tightening the process used to certify its macOS applications as legitimate OpenAI software. (openai.com) (reuters.com) At the same time, three senior leaders tied to Stargate, OpenAI’s huge data-center buildout effort, are leaving for Meta, according to Bloomberg. Bloomberg named Peter Hoeschele and said the hires would support Meta’s artificial intelligence infrastructure work. (bloomberg.com) Stargate is OpenAI’s plan to line up the chips, power, land, and financing needed for new artificial intelligence data centers, and SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX were introduced as partners when the project was announced at the White House in January 2025. OpenAI said at the time that the group planned to invest $100 billion immediately and up to $500 billion over four years. (openai.com) (whitehouse.gov) Meta has been spending heavily on that same race. In January 2025, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said Meta expected 2025 capital expenditures of $60 billion to $65 billion, with much of that aimed at artificial intelligence infrastructure. (about.fb.com) OpenAI’s immediate message is narrower than the swirl around it: the ads are labeled, the security issue did not expose user data, and the company is still trying to expand the computing backbone behind ChatGPT. (openai.com 1) (openai.com 2)
