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OpenAI crossed $100 million in annualized ad revenue just six weeks after launching its ChatGPT ad pilot, with ads shown to fewer than 20% of eligible US free and Go tier users daily. Over 600 advertisers are already running in the managed pilot, and self-serve access opens in April 2026. The numbers are striking given how little inventory OpenAI has actually turned on – 85% of free users are eligible but most aren’t seeing ads yet. Dave Dugan, hired from Meta to run ad sales, is now overseeing expansion into Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Perplexity launched ads months earlier but hasn’t disclosed comparable revenue figures, and Google’s AI Overviews are already carrying ad units – the monetization race for conversational AI interfaces is moving faster than most predicted.
