ChatGPT ads are coming to Argentina, Nigeria, Ukraine and Bangladesh — a rollout across 26 new markets
OpenAI is launching ads in 26 new markets across Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The ads will appear only in the free and Go tiers, while Plus, Pro and Enterprise remain ad-free — and ad revenue has, according to the company's own figures, reached one billion dollars annualized in under 200 days.
On Wednesday, October 21, 2026, OpenAI announced that ChatGPT advertising is expanding to 26 new countries, bringing ad coverage to a total of 89 markets, according to the company. Reuters describes the rollout as part of building up ad revenue ahead of a possible stock market listing, according to Reuters. Channel NewsAsia reported the same message the same day.
The new markets
The largest group is 14 new countries in Latin America, including Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru. These come on top of earlier launches in Mexico and Brazil, according to Reuters. The expansion also covers markets across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia — with named examples including Nigeria, South Africa, Serbia, Ukraine, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The complete list of all 26 markets cannot be fully verified from the available coverage, which stems from OpenAI's own announcement.
Who sees the ads — and who doesn't
The ads appear only in ChatGPT's free and Go tiers. Users with Plus, Pro or Enterprise subscriptions are spared advertising, according to information OpenAI has given Reuters. Advertisers in the new markets can gain access via technology partners, or buy the advertising themselves through the company's self-service Ads Manager platform.
The numbers so far — with caveats
All the growth figures below are the company's own reported numbers, conveyed through press material and echoed by Reuters, Channel NewsAsia and Unite.AI:
- OpenAI stated in August that its ads business has reached an annualized revenue run rate of one billion dollars. According to Crypto Briefing, which also cites the company's figures, this came less than 200 days after launch.
- More than 100,000 advertisers have run campaigns since testing in the US began earlier this year, the company says.
- OpenAI states that more than 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT weekly.
None of these figures have been independently verified, and the coverage builds on the same announcement from the company — they should therefore be read as OpenAI's own account, not confirmed facts.
The timeline: from the US to 89 markets in eight months
ChatGPT Ads launched in the US in February 2026, according to Crypto Briefing. Expansions followed in waves: 31 European markets in August, and seven Southeast Asian markets on September 23. The source material nevertheless contains a numerical discrepancy: Crypto Briefing's own headline said 63 countries, while the text of the same article says 89. The wave-by-wave development is reported by several of the sources, but all stem from OpenAI's own information, and the discrepancy is noted, not resolved.
In September, OpenAI also introduced AI-powered tools for advertisers and began testing business-sponsored agents with selected US advertisers, according to Reuters.
Promises on safety and placement
OpenAI stated in January 2026, in a post written by Fidji Simo before ad testing began, that advertising is not shown to users under 18 — or to accounts where the company predicts the user is under 18. Ads are also to be kept away from sensitive or regulated topics, such as health, mental health and politics, according to the principles reported by Unite.AI.
The company further states that the ads are clearly labeled, appear separately from ChatGPT's answers and do not affect the answers themselves. OpenAI also says that conversations are not shared with advertisers, that user data is not sold, and that users can turn off personalization.
The advertisers' perspective
The announcement quotes Asmita Dubey, chief digital marketing and data officer (CDMO) of the L'Oréal Group: "Testing early with OpenAI enables us to pioneer useful experiences and journeys, from discovery to evaluation to agentic commerce, so that L'Oréal remains the most trusted, expert answer wherever beauty conversations take place" (Unite.AI).
OpenAI signals, according to Unite.AI, that the next phase will bring new ad formats, objectives, purchasing options and measurement methods.
Open questions
Several things remain to be clarified. The figures on advertisers, revenue and users still rest on the company's own claims. The complete list of the 26 new markets cannot be fully verified from the coverage material, and the underlying figures for how many markets were covered before the expansion diverge between sources. And it remains to be seen how the advertising will actually be experienced in practice by users in very different markets — from Argentina to Bangladesh — and whether the promised principles hold up in everyday use.