OpenAI’s ads pilot is getting more accessible to some advertisers

OpenAI’s ads business is growing up—and making room for more price-conscious advertisers.

The tech company, which first rolled out its pilot in February for logged-in adult users of the ChatGPT Free and Go subscription tiers, is rolling out more dynamic CPMs, according to two agency executives Marketing Brew spoke to. It’s also planning to become more flexible with the kinds of advertising verticals eligible to join its pilot program, and has extended the length of its initial pilot

OpenAI, which recently missed user growth and revenue targets, claims the pilot has so far been successful. “We’re seeing no impact on consumer trust metrics, low dismissal rates of ads, and ongoing improvements in the relevance of ads as we learn from feedback,” the company wrote in a press release in March.

Asad Awan, head of monetization at OpenAI, told Marketing Brew in an email that “we’re expanding the pilot deliberately, with a focus on learning and getting the experience right for users.”

Drop it like it’s hot: CPMs can get as low as $15, the two agency executives said, making the platform potentially more economical compared to the $60 CPMs from when the ads pilot began. Awan said the bid can only be set to $60 as of now, which is treated as a “max bid in the auction,” and noted that this “implies delivery can clear at a lower effective CPM in some cases.”

OpenAI had previously asked advertisers for at least a $200,000 commitment upfront to join the pilot; that has also since changed, and Awan confirmed that the company has “adjusted the minimum spend” since the pilot began.

Advertisers who sign up through the retargeting platform Criteo, with which OpenAI inked a deal last month, have been pitched on committing between $50,000 and $100,000 to the pilot, according to The Information, and Awan confirmed that OpenAI does not manage Criteo ad spend commitments.

The company plans to allow advertisers to “set different bids and objectives in the near future,” according to Awan.

OpenAI is also extending the length of the pilot, which was first set to conclude last month. One of the executives noted that clients whose pilot eligibility was set to expire on March 31 have been allowed to extend their pilot length to the end of April, and Awan confirmed in late April that the pilot was still underway. As the pilot timeframe is expanding, there is room for more advertisers joining: the initial focus of the pilot has been on verticals like retail, travel, and consumer goods; based on how consumers are querying ChatGPT, there is room for expansion. According to the two agency executives, the pilot already contains many travel brands, making the category somewhat crowded.

As of late March, OpenAI’s US ad pilot has already amassed over $100 million in annualized revenue, a company spokesperson told news outlets. It brought on David Dugan, who was VP of global clients and agencies at Meta, to lead its ads business as VP and head of global ads solutions in March. On April 16, the company announced that it would soon extend the pilot beyond the US to include Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

As it continues to scale, the company is reportedly also in talks with The Trade Desk on a potential partnership, according to The Information. It also recently signed a deal with Smartly, an ad-tech platform that optimizes ad placements, according to Business Insider. It has announced no third-party ad measurement partnerships as of yet, and Awan said OpenAI has no plans for any measurement-related partnerships at the moment.

The company is still also figuring out how to strategically increase the number of ads served, per the two agency executives Marketing Brew spoke to.

Awan said that OpenAI is “taking a measured approach to growing the pilot, guided by what we’re seeing in early testing. We’re building on the early test in a measured way, with a strong focus on the overall user experience.”

In other words, we’ve come a long way from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s initial reluctance to place ads in the company’s products.

“I kind of think of ads as like a last resort for us for a business model,” Altman said in May 2024. “I would do it if it meant that was the only way to get everybody in the world access to great services. But if we can find something that doesn’t do that, I’d prefer that.”