CroisetteGPT?
OpenAI has made its Cannes Lions debut this year and spent time with reporters yesterday outlining its vision for brands, agencies, and advertising.
There were no major product launches, but the company used the event to explain how ChatGPT fits into the future of advertising as it continues expanding its business.
Why This Matters:
OpenAI’s presence at Cannes underscores how seriously/urgently it’s taking the advertising opportunity. The company is increasingly engaging marketers and agencies that are eager to understand how advertising and brand engagement will work in AI-driven environments.
The timing is notable. OpenAI faces enormous pressure to grow revenue as it scales ahead of an IPO. Sam Altman’s company has projected $100 billion in ad revenue by 2030, making brands, agencies, and marketers a critical audience. If OpenAI is going to reach that figure, it needs to continue to convince advertisers that ChatGPT can become a meaningful ad platform.
Experts React:
While OpenAI spent Cannes pitching its vision for advertisers, the company is still facing scrutiny from other parts of the media ecosystem.
Speaking with Axios’ Sara Fischer at Axios House, New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien said the “stakes are really high” in the publisher’s ongoing lawsuit against OpenAI over the use of Times content to train large language models. The comments served as a reminder that while OpenAI is working to build relationships with marketers and agencies, questions around content usage, publisher compensation, and AI training practices remain unresolved.
Our Take:
OpenAI’s Cannes message was less about new products and more about intent. The company clearly wants advertisers to begin thinking about ChatGPT as a channel, not just an AI assistant.
But the challenge is that advertising inside AI remains largely black-boxed and relatively unsophisticated. Measurement capabilities need to mature, and the industry still needs better ad formats that feel more native to a conversational experience. Marketers are willing to experiment, but larger budgets typically follow clearer measurement and proven performance.
If OpenAI hopes advertising becomes a major revenue driver over the next several years, those areas will need to evolve — and quickly.
