OpenAI projects $2.5 billion in ad revenue this year, $100 billion by 2030, Axios reports

April 9 (Reuters) – ChatGPT maker OpenAI expects to generate $2.5 billion in advertising revenue this year, with projections to reach $100 billion by 2030, Axios reported on Thursday, citing a source familiar with recent presentations to investors.

The company has told investors to expect ad revenue to surge to $11 billion in 2027, $25 billion in 2028 and $53 billion by 2029, based on the assumption that OpenAI’s products will reach 2.75 billion weekly users by 2030, the report added.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the Axios report. 

* OpenAI said in January it would start showing ads inChatGPT to some U.S. users, looking to boost overall revenuegrowth to help fund soaring costs of developing its AItechnology. * The ads were to be tested with users on ChatGPT’s freetier and the lower-priced Go plan. * Late last month, an OpenAI spokesperson said ChatGPT’s adspilot in the U.S. crossed $100 million in annualized revenuewithin six weeks of its launch. * The company had expanded to over 600 advertisers at thetime. * OpenAI is making efforts to grab market share in the adindustry, dominated by Alphabet’s Google and Facebook parentMeta. For context, Google’s ad business generated $294.69billion in 2025 revenue, while Meta reported 2025 ad revenue of$196.18 billion. * Although analysts have said displaying ads in ChatGPTcould irk some users and hurt trust, OpenAI reports no impact onconsumer trust metrics and has observed low dismissal rates ofads.

(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)