By Reuters

(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 in ChatGPT to some U.S. users, looking to boost overall revenue growth to help fund soaring ​costs of developing its AI technology.

• The ads were to ​be tested with users on ChatGPT's free tier and the lower-priced Go ‌plan.

• Late ⁠last month, an OpenAI spokesperson said ChatGPT's ads pilot in the U.S. crossed $100 million in annualized revenue within six weeks of its launch.

• The company had expanded to over 600 advertisers ​at the ​time.

• OpenAI is making ⁠efforts to grab market share in the ad industry, dominated by Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google and Facebook ​parent Meta (META.O), opens new tab. For context, Google's ad business ​generated $294.69 billion ⁠in 2025 revenue, while Meta reported 2025 ad revenue of $196.18 billion.

• Although analysts have said displaying ads in ChatGPT could irk ⁠some ​users and hurt trust, OpenAI reports ​no impact on consumer trust metrics and has observed low dismissal rates of ​ads.

Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore

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