Wedbush analysts said OpenAI (Unlisted:OPAI)’s launch of advertising in ChatGPT introduces a new competitive surface for digital advertising, with early interest from major agencies and brands signaling potential shifts in marketing budgets across the industry.
“As brands begin to shift experimental budgets across both the upper and lower-funnel to new AI-enabled surfaces, advertising platforms capturing just a small percentage of retailer wallets are most at risk,” Wedbush wrote, adding that the impact could be most pronounced for Pinterest and Instacart.
OpenAI said on Monday that it has begun testing ads in ChatGPT for logged-in adult users in the United States on the Free and Go subscription tiers, while Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Education users will remain ad-free.
The company said ads will be clearly labeled as sponsored and will not influence ChatGPT’s answers. OpenAI added that ads are intended to help fund broader access to AI features while maintaining privacy and user trust.
According to OpenAI, ads will be selected based on the topic of a user’s conversation, past chats, and prior ad interactions, with advertisers receiving only aggregated performance data such as views and clicks.
Advertisers will not have access to individual conversations, chat histories, memories, or personal details. Ads will not be shown to users under 18 or near sensitive topics such as health, mental health, or politics. Users will be able to dismiss ads, manage personalization, and delete ad data.
Wedbush said the launch has already drawn interest from major advertising agencies, including Omnicom, WPP, and Dentsu. Omnicom has reported that more than 30 clients have secured placements in OpenAI’s pilot program, with early partners including Target and Adobe as brands explore AI-driven discovery, brand visibility, and shopping experiences.
The analysts said the shift toward AI-led discovery could compress traditional marketing funnels and weaken the value proposition of smaller platforms.
“As AI compresses the market of discovery and purchase for leading advertiser peers, the value proposition of subscale players, such as Pinterest, erodes,” Wedbush wrote.
Wedbush noted that Pinterest captures less than 10% of ad budgets from some large advertisers and could face market share pressure as advertisers reassess spending.
“While Pinterest has improved its ability to collect and measure intent signals, the company still lacks full commerce visibility relative to competitors, limiting the effectiveness of its ad platform,” the analysts wrote.
The firm also said OpenAI’s partnerships with grocers and consumer packaged goods advertisers could pose a meaningful challenge to Instacart’s advertising business.
“OpenAI’s partnerships with grocers and CPG advertisers will meaningfully challenge Instacart’s ad offering,” Wedbush wrote, noting that advertising now represents roughly 30% of Instacart’s revenue and is expected to outgrow its core grocery operations.
Wedbush added that the emergence of AI-driven commerce and advertising could constrain upside for both companies as investors debate the impact of AI-led discovery and shopping.
“We think upside for both names could be limited in the coming quarters, as investors more intensely debate the role of AI-led commerce and advertising over the next 12 to 18 months,” Wedbush’s analysts concluded.