OpenAI laid out its advertising strategy publicly at its first official Cannes Lions stage. In a session summed up by CRO Denise Dresser’s message that the company is “clearly in the advertising business now,” OpenAI said the ChatGPT ads product launched in the US in February 2026 expanded to international markets within 19 weeks and now includes cost-per-click pricing.
According to AdExchanger and Marketing Dive, the company states that roughly 20 percent of queries from its 900 million weekly active users carry direct commercial intent, and it has set a target of $100 billion in advertising revenue within four years. This is the clearest signal yet of conversational AI positioning itself as a third major ad medium alongside search and social.