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At Its First-Ever Cannes, OpenAI Says ‘We Are Clearly In The Advertising Business Now’
AdExchanger • • business
Key Points:
- OpenAI unveiled a new advertising product at Cannes Lions, focusing on ads that help users accomplish tasks rather than simply capturing attention, marking a shift from the traditional attention economy to an intelligence economy.
- The company aims to use advertising revenue to subsidize access to its AI tools, particularly for free and lower-tier users, aligning ads with its broader mission of increasing access to AI.
- OpenAI reports over 900 million weekly active users, with about 20% of queries having direct commercial intent, and emphasizes strict privacy measures by not sharing conversational data with advertisers.
- Creative workflows are evolving as brands produce vastly more assets across languages and platforms; OpenAI’s tools, including Codex, enable non-coders like creative directors to build customized production workflows.
- Although OpenAI’s ad business is still in early stages—launched just 19 weeks ago—it has rapidly expanded with pilots in multiple countries, new ad formats, partnerships, and a shift toward cost-per-click pricing, signaling a serious commitment to advertising.
