OpenAI has taken its advertising plans to Cannes Lions, the global marketing event. The company presented ChatGPT ads and its Codex coding tool to marketers as it seeks new revenue sources before a planned public listing.
OpenAI executives met marketers at the 2026 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The company explained how brands could place contextual ads inside ChatGPT and use AI tools to manage campaigns. Reports said Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser and advertising executive David Dugan attended.
ChatGPT began showing ads in February 2026 to users on its free and Go plans. The ads appear as marked sponsored content below responses, while the main answer stays separate. OpenAI has said around 20% of ChatGPT queries may carry commercial intent, reaching users researching products and services.
OpenAI said it already works with thousands of advertisers across seven test markets. These include the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea. The company plans to expand to Brazil and Mexico before a later India launch.
Dugan said ad revenue would ‘subsidise and grow access to information.’ He also said the rate at which users saw an ad and left the platform was ‘far lower’ than at the start of testing. OpenAI has not disclosed how much money the pilot has generated, so its early financial value remains unclear.
The company aims to generate $100 billion in annual advertising revenue by 2030. This target would place the business among the largest digital ad operations. Some projections put OpenAI’s 2026 ad revenue at $2.4 billion, although the company has not confirmed the figure.
OpenAI also used Cannes Lions to show how Codex could support advertising work. A company specialist demonstrated a tool built for a fictional car brand. The system created and managed campaign materials for a local dealership without coding skills.
“Two and a half days for a creative director working by myself; I don’t even know how to code,” the specialist said. OpenAI presented Codex as a way for marketing teams to build internal applications, create campaign assets, and speed up routine production tasks.
OpenAI said the technology should serve as another tool for creative teams rather than replace them. Still, marketers raised questions about how AI systems may change design, production and agency work. The company did not provide estimates on job changes.
OpenAI’s advertising push comes as markets watch for a possible initial public offering. Reports said the company filed confidentially with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in early June 2026. A public debut could take place as early as September, although the timing remains unconfirmed.
The company’s private valuation has been reported at about $852 billion, with some estimates placing a future IPO value near $1 trillion. OpenAI still records heavy losses, making advertising part of its effort to reduce reliance on subscriptions and enterprise software.
Google, Meta, and Microsoft already operate large advertising businesses. OpenAI now plans to compete for spending linked to AI searches and conversational queries. Paid ChatGPT plans are expected to stay ad-free, while free and Go users may keep seeing sponsored messages.
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