Sam Altman once called ads a 'last resort.' Now OpenAI is on track for $1 billion in revenue ...

By William Gavin The company is making it easier for businesses across the world to take out ads on ChatGPT OpenAI first began testing the integration of advertisements into ChatGPT in February. OpenAI on Monday said its advertising business has reached a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate, a new milestone for a venture that CEO Sam Altman once said would be a "last resort." The artificial-intelligence lab in February began trialing the integration of ads into its ChatGPT model. Growth has been swift: In March, OpenAI said the ad program had reached $100 million in annualized revenue, which companies use to project a full year's performance based on how something is currently performing. The ChatGPT maker had set a goal of recording $2.5 billion in ad revenue by the end of 2026, according to an Axios report. The company has also projected $100 billion in ad revenue by 2030, the report said. A representative for OpenAI did not immediately return a request for comment. Tens of thousands of advertisers have paid OpenAI to show their ads alongside ChatGPT's answers to users' questions, according to the company. Only those who use the AI model for free and subscribers to the ChatGPT Go tier, which costs $8 a month, are shown ads. Don't miss: Tim Cook wasn't a 'product guy' - so he re-engineered Apple instead OpenAI on Monday also said it would make it easier for businesses in India, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa to take out ads. Its "next phase of growth" will add more options and tools for advertisers, OpenAI said. It also plans to offer "more native ways" for businesses to interact with customers in ChatGPT. The push into advertising began as OpenAI rival Anthropic started gaining ground, scooping up enterprise customers and launching new models that delivered strong performance. OpenAI has made other moves to expand its business and justify its $852 billion valuation, most recently with the Jalapeño microchip that it said had outperformed "leading commercially available AI systems." Both OpenAI and Anthropic have confidentially filed to go public, with the latter expected to make its S-1 filing public as soon as September. Some investors hope that Anthropic could pursue an initial public offering that would take its valuation from $965 billion as of May to above $2 trillion. OpenAI "will be a public company in 2027" and could possibly move more quickly if "our business continues to inflect," Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar recently told employees, according to CNBC. Anthropic has decided to keep its Claude chatbot ad-free, eschewing what has become a cash cow for OpenAI and other Big Tech companies. Meta Platforms (META) posted ad revenue of more than $114 billion for the first half of 2026, while Alphabet's (GOOG) (GOOGL) ad business generated more than $158 billion. OpenAI on Monday also advanced its relationship with the U.S. Department of Defense. The agency said it had added a version of ChatGPT to GenAI.mil, its AI platform that is available to more than 3 million DOD personnel. OpenAI has been working with the department since June 2025, when it won a $200 million contract. -William Gavin This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. (END) Dow Jones Newswires 08-31-26 1214ET Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. The articles, information, and content displayed on this webpage may include materials prepared and provided by third parties. 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