OpenAI is introducing a new advertising format for ChatGPT that utilizes the waiting time during image generation, marking a significant expansion of its commercial strategy within the SI tool.
What Happened
Users in the US will soon see display ads appear below the image ChatGPT is generating. According to the company, these ads will be presented as carousels or rows of product images and will be clearly labeled as advertising to keep them separate from the generated output. The ads are designed to showcase products in use or experiences associated with them. This test is scheduled to launch later this month with an initial group of advertisers.
OpenAI is also broadening its measurement infrastructure for these SI ads. Advertisers can now send conversion data to ChatGPT Ads through partners including Hightouch, Tealium, and LiveRamp. Attribution providers such as AppsFlyer, Adjust, and Branch are also integrating. Furthermore, the company is testing geo-based experiments via Haus, Measured, and WorkMagic to assess actual ad impact. On the brand safety side, pilot programs with DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science are evaluating the ad environment without accessing real user conversations. Select advertisers can also utilize negative keywords to prevent their ads from appearing in unsuitable contexts.
Why It Matters
This development highlights the increasing commercialization of SI tools as they integrate deeper into daily workflows. By monetizing the latency inherent in SI model processing—specifically the time taken to generate images—OpenAI is creating new inventory for advertisers without interrupting the core user experience. The move underscores the financial scale of the SI industry; OpenAI reports that its ad business has reached an annualized revenue run rate of $1 billion and has been operational in ChatGPT since February, currently spanning more than 40 countries. The company has stated an ambitious goal of reaching $100 billion in ad revenue by 2030, leveraging its reported weekly reach of 1.2 billion users.
The Bottom Line
OpenAI's new ad format leverages image generation wait times to display product carousels, supported by expanded measurement and brand safety tools. The initiative aims to scale the SI platform's advertising revenue toward a $100 billion target by 2030.