ChatGPT

Dominant conversational AI platform and emerging ad-supported media surface with unmatched scale and user intent data

ChatGPT is OpenAI's flagship large language model-powered conversational AI assistant, launched in November 2022. It rapidly became one of the fastest-growing consumer technology products in history, reaching 100 million users within two months of launch and surpassing 300 million weekly active users by 2025. The product spans a free web interface, mobile apps, a paid subscription tier (ChatGPT Plus/Pro/Team/Enterprise), and an API layer that powers thousands of third-party applications. In the AdTech ecosystem, ChatGPT has emerged as a significant new advertising surface. In 2025, OpenAI launched an advertising pilot program in partnership with Criteo, exploring native and contextually relevant ad formats embedded within ChatGPT conversations. This positions ChatGPT as a novel intent-rich environment for advertisers — one where user queries carry strong commercial signals. The platform also operates a GPT Store (app marketplace) enabling third-party developers to build and monetize specialized AI agents, further expanding its ecosystem footprint. ChatGPT competes with Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Anthropic Claude, and Meta AI for conversational AI dominance. Its parent company OpenAI has raised over $17 billion in funding and is valued at approximately $157 billion as of early 2025. The introduction of advertising represents a strategic diversification of revenue beyond subscriptions and API licensing, and signals ChatGPT's growing importance as a media and advertising channel in its own right.