I'm betting that they can.

Here's an idea that just popped into my head:

ChatGPT shows a sponsored entry in chat history list with a colorful border around it to get users to click. This product is something that ChatGPT knows the user desperately needs from previous chats. The user can chat directly with the product and learn more about it. The advertiser specifically sent OpenAI information (like a RAG) about their products buyers might have questions for.

When the user is ready, they can open a link to the product's website or just buy directly in ChatGPT.

▲

mattlondon 16 hours ago | parent | next [-]

But the missing part is "we know they need this!" but they don't have the ad network to have the pixels on the vendor sites to track the conversion (or not for remarketing!). They only have half (at most) of the picture. This is why they tried to create a browser (remember that? Nope me neither) to try and get the full picture.

Advertisers are accustomed to pay for conversions now. If you can't track it, you cant prove it happened.

Open ai will need to spin up the entire infrastructure (Inc sales teams, support teams, servers etc) to run the ad network. Not impossible but it is a big lift and they're already burning money.

Their best bet is probably to just sign up for selling their ad space with Google, like all the other apps and websites do

▲

DrewADesign 16 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I think the amount of money they’re burning on their operations would make that organizational lift a drop in the bucket. A few dozen annual 6 figure salaries? A few hundred? A bunch of normal CPU-based AWS services? They must spend 10 million per day on their current operating expenses.

▲

mattlondon 15 hours ago | parent [-]

Google and Meta are many thousands of sales people, managers, engineers, SREs, HR, masseuses etc. If you want to scale to Meta or Goog scale when doing ads you won't be able to do it with a few dozen people. Just sales will be hundreds or thousands spread across all the major territories

▲

Invictus0 13 hours ago | parent [-]

what's with all the naysaying? It's HN in 2025 and you think a company the size of OpenAI can't afford to build ads?

▲

emp17344 11 hours ago | parent [-]

Except OpenAI’s value is overinflated by an economic bubble. They don’t have the manpower or resources to effectively implement an ad network on the scale they’d need to become profitable. Why are you insisting we keep the conversation positive?

	▲	DrewADesign 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Just like people said of a bunch of saas companies going up against Oracle, IBM, etc. 20 years ago. I honestly don’t think open ai has the maturity or discipline for long-term viability, but their operating expenses for a week would eclipse the annual payroll required to hire a large corporate infrastructure that may be the best shot they have at transitioning from a company operating on hope and buzz to one that actually makes a few bucks. I’ll eat my hat if they become the next Google, but they didn’t pull the playbook out of thin air.
	▲	ThrowawayTestr 5 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		They have an app millions of people use that they can directly inject ads into. What makes you think this couldn't make money?
	▲	Invictus0 11 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		see you in 5 years

▲

Workaccount2 15 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

God, the irony if they were using Google on the backend for advertising...

▲

nerdponx 16 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

They can also suggest chat topics. Like how Reddit ads are meant to look like threads. "Frustrated with food baked on dishes? Let's chat about it! (sponsored)"

▲

eastbound 16 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Google Ads’ admin console is basically a dark pattern app built to consume your advertising budget with no effect.

OpenAI just has to be transparent and they’ll have 100% of our funding.

	▲	gomox 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Same