CMOs wary of AI as OpenAI targets advertisers directly
An OpenAI executive has suggested advertisers could bypass agencies and use tools like ChatGPT to create ads. This comes as the Winter 2026 CMO Survey reveals that while 72% of brand teams are piloting AI-driven creative, 40% cite a "loss of creative control" as a primary concern.
- OpenAI's move into advertising includes testing sponsored, labeled content within ChatGPT conversations for its free and "Go" tiers, aiming to make its tools more accessible while creating a new revenue stream. The company has stated that advertiser's cannot alter the organic text of an AI's response and that ads will be displayed separately. - Beyond creative control, other significant CMO concerns about AI include the spread of misinformation and deepfakes, brand integrity risks from harmful outputs, and a fear that audiences will distrust AI-generated ads. In fact, 70% of marketers report having already experienced at least one AI-related incident, such as factually incorrect "hallucinations" or biased content. - Publicis Groupe's "CoreAI" is being used to provide creative teams with data-backed insights from 2.3 billion consumer profiles, enhancing the ideation process. In another agency example, The Monks production company built an end-to-end AI pipeline for the sleep wellness brand Hatch that cut production hours by 50% and costs by 97%, while improving cost-per-purchase by 31%. - Generative AI tools are rapidly advancing creative production; platforms like Pencil and Superside offer AI-generated static and video ad variations, while InVideo provides AI script, voice, and avatar generation. These tools are part of a broader trend of "content multiplication," where a single asset is repurposed by AI into multiple formats for different social platforms. - The "lo-fi" content trend, characterized by unpolished, authentic visuals often shot on smartphones, is being embraced by major brands like Zara, Chipotle, and Nike to increase relatability and engagement. On platforms like TikTok and Instagram, lo-fi content often receives higher engagement because algorithms favor its authentic and shareable nature. - A key focus for creative leadership is shifting from task management to cultivating an environment of psychological safety and experimentation. As AI automates more linear tasks, human talent is expected to move toward higher-value work like strategy, partnerships, and imaginative creativity. - While 81% of CMOs have embraced AI, many still struggle to implement it beyond basic content creation for more sophisticated uses like attribution modeling. This is compounded by the fact that 68% of CMOs report not getting the expected ROI from their broader marketing technology investments. - Looking ahead, the industry is moving from generative AI to "agentic AI," which can autonomously execute complex tasks and make decisions. Marketing leaders expect this form of AI to handle over 20% of the total marketing workload within the next two to three years.
