OpenAI Held Early Talks With The Trade Desk for ChatGPT Ads

OpenAI held early talks with The Trade Desk about helping sell ads in ChatGPT, according to The Information, as the company projects that advertising could help double consumer ChatGPT revenue to $17 billion this year. The discussions signal OpenAI's intent to scale its ad infrastructure beyond its existing Criteo partnership by tapping the industry's largest independent demand-side platform.

Why The Trade Desk matters for ChatGPT ads

The Trade Desk operates the largest independent DSP in programmatic advertising, giving brands and agencies access to ad inventory across the open internet. A partnership would make ChatGPT's ad inventory accessible through the same buying tools advertisers already use for display, video, and connected TV campaigns, significantly lowering the barrier to entry.

Currently, Criteo is the only confirmed ad tech partner, connecting approximately 17,000 advertisers to ChatGPT's ad inventory since the partnership was announced on March 2. Adding The Trade Desk would expand that pool to include a broader range of brand advertisers and agencies that buy through programmatic channels. The Trade Desk's stock rallied more than 9% after hours on the report.

The scale of the opportunity

OpenAI has topped $25 billion in annualized revenue as of late February 2026, but only about 5% of ChatGPT users pay for subscriptions. That leaves the vast majority of users on the free and Go tiers, where ads are eligible to appear. ChatGPT ads launched on February 9 in the U.S. on those tiers, with premium paid subscriptions remaining ad-free.

The $17 billion consumer revenue projection suggests OpenAI sees advertising as a primary growth driver, not a supplemental revenue stream. For context, early pricing sits at approximately $60 CPM with a $200,000 minimum spend for initial advertisers. Early buyers include Target, Ford, Mrs. Meyer's, Adobe, Best Buy, AT&T, and Expedia.

Early performance signals

One data point working in OpenAI's favor: Criteo data shows that users referred through LLM interactions convert at roughly 1.5 times the rate of users from other referral channels. That conversion premium could justify the high CPMs and help OpenAI attract performance-focused advertisers as it moves beyond brand spend.

What this means for advertisers

The pattern emerging is that OpenAI is building its ad business through multiple simultaneous partnerships: Criteo for commerce and retail demand, and potentially The Trade Desk for broader programmatic access. Industry analysts note that OpenAI's long-term plan is to bring ad tech functions in-house, making these partnerships a bridge to a proprietary ad stack.

For advertisers already buying through The Trade Desk, a confirmed partnership would mean ChatGPT ad inventory shows up alongside their existing campaigns without requiring a separate direct deal with OpenAI. That shift from direct-sold to programmatic would mark a significant step in making AI-native advertising a standard part of media plans, alongside search and social.