OpenAI builds in-house ad infrastructure for ChatGPT growth

OpenAI has signaled its intention to develop proprietary advertising infrastructure through a job posting dated September 24, 2025. The listing seeks a Growth Paid Marketing Platform Engineer to construct foundational marketing technology systems for the ChatGPT platform.

The position centers on building technical infrastructure for OpenAI's paid marketing operations. Responsibilities include developing campaign management tools, establishing integrations with major advertising platforms, constructing real-time attribution pipelines, and implementing experimentation frameworks for optimization purposes.

This role sits within a newly formed ChatGPT Growth team. The job description states the engineer will be tasked with "building the technical infrastructure behind OpenAI's paid marketing platform." OpenAI specifies that the platform is in early development stages, requiring the new hire to design and implement foundational marketing technology infrastructure to enhance effectiveness, measurement capabilities, and automation of marketing investments.

The compensation range for the position spans $160,000 to $385,000, with equity offerings included.

Building backend systems for marketing operations

The technical scope encompasses backend API development, data pipeline construction, and service deployment. These systems will support campaign management functions, attribution tracking, and advertising spend optimization. The infrastructure aims to enable OpenAI to execute marketing at scale without external agency dependencies, according to industry observers familiar with such systems.

Successfully implementing this infrastructure internally could establish the foundation for a broader product enabling other brands to execute campaigns through ChatGPT, two industry insiders suggested.

Jacob Bourne, an eMarketer analyst, characterized the initiative as reflecting OpenAI's effort to scale advertising operations internally rather than relying on external agencies. "Outsourcing would mean less control and more risk given its sensitive market position," Bourne stated in the Adweek article.

The move represents a departure from typical industry practice. Few companies construct proprietary ad-buying systems—a capability generally limited to major technology platforms such as Google, Meta, and Amazon. Most organizations depend on agencies or third-party tools for campaign automation and measurement functions.

Organizational context and advertising ambitions

This hiring activity occurs alongside other advertising-related developments at OpenAI. The company recently appointed Omnicom Media Group's PHD as its global media agency of record, responsible for global media planning and purchasing for the ChatGPT maker.

Additionally, Alex Heath of Sources reported on September 25, 2025, that Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of Applications, was conducting interviews with candidates to lead a new team focused on bringing advertisements to ChatGPT. Simo previously served as CEO of Instacart, where she oversaw development of that company's advertising product.

Over the past year, OpenAI has recruited executives with advertising backgrounds, including Simo, and has tested shopping and ecommerce integrations on ChatGPT. The platform's usage has expanded substantially, reaching 700 million weekly active users in August—a fourfold increase from the previous year. ChatGPT is now available on Apple devices.

The company is also transitioning toward a public benefit corporation structure, granting the controlling nonprofit an equity stake valued at a minimum of $100 billion. OpenAI has reached a tentative agreement to resolve financial matters with Microsoft. Analysts have identified these changes as indicators of a shift toward revenue generation alongside AI development efforts.

Potential product implications

Some advertising technology observers have suggested the platform could eventually function as a standalone product. ChatGPT could potentially allow users to provide campaign objectives and data, then autonomously select platforms, determine campaign types, execute advertisements, and analyze performance—all through automated processes.

"Not many companies take this step," stated an advertising technology executive who requested anonymity in the Adweek report. "If OpenAI succeeds internally, they could flip this into a product and potentially bypass agencies entirely."

Why this matters for marketers

The development carries significant implications for the digital advertising industry. The emergence of AI-powered platforms as potential advertising channels represents a fundamental shift in digital marketing infrastructure. OpenAI's move to build proprietary marketing technology suggests the company views advertising as a core revenue stream rather than an ancillary function.

For marketing professionals, this development indicates several potential changes to the advertising landscape. First, ChatGPT could emerge as a new advertising platform with direct response capabilities, similar to how search and social platforms evolved into advertising channels. Second, the automation capabilities described in the job listing suggest AI-native advertising platforms may offer different workflow paradigms than current paid media systems.

The technical infrastructure being built—particularly real-time attribution and experimentation frameworks—suggests OpenAI aims to provide measurement capabilities comparable to established advertising platforms. This could enable performance-based advertising models within ChatGPT interactions.

The hiring of talent specifically for growth marketing infrastructure also signals that OpenAI is treating user acquisition and monetization with the same technical rigor it applies to AI development. This mirrors patterns observed when other major technology platforms developed advertising capabilities.

OpenAI's advertising ambitions arrive during a period of significant transformation in how AI platforms influence digital marketing. McKinsey's Technology Trends Outlook 2025 report identified agentic AI—artificial intelligence systems capable of autonomous planning and execution—as the most significant emerging trend for marketing organizations.

The company has already introduced Instant Checkout capabilities within ChatGPT, marking its entry into transaction-enabled commerce. Combined with the new marketing infrastructure hiring, these developments suggest a comprehensive strategy to build ChatGPT into a full-service platform where users discover, research, and purchase products—potentially with advertising integrated throughout the experience.

The initiative raises questions about how conversational AI platforms will integrate advertising without degrading user experience—a challenge that will likely shape the future of AI-powered marketing channels.

Timeline

• September 24, 2025: OpenAI posted job listing for Growth Paid Marketing Platform Engineer
• September 25, 2025: Reports emerged of Fidji Simo interviewing candidates to lead ChatGPT advertising team
• September 29, 2025: OpenAI launched Instant Checkout capabilities within ChatGPT
• August 2025: ChatGPT reached 700 million weekly active users, up fourfold year-over-year
• July 2025: McKinsey identified AI agents as frontier technology reshaping marketing
• April 2025: OpenAI introduced shopping features to ChatGPT with 1 billion weekly searches
• Past year: OpenAI onboarded executives with advertising backgrounds, including Fidji Simo

Summary

Who: OpenAI, through a newly formed ChatGPT Growth team, is seeking to hire a Growth Paid Marketing Platform Engineer. Key figures include Fidji Simo, CEO of Applications, who previously built Instacart's advertising product.

What: OpenAI posted a job listing to build internal advertising infrastructure, including campaign management tools, ad platform integrations, real-time attribution systems, and experimentation frameworks. The role involves designing backend APIs, data pipelines, and services to support marketing operations at scale.

When: The job posting was published on September 24, 2025. This follows recent developments including OpenAI appointing PHD as its global media agency and ChatGPT reaching 700 million weekly active users in August 2025.

Where: The position is based in San Francisco within OpenAI's Applied AI Engineering division. The infrastructure being built will support OpenAI's global marketing operations and the ChatGPT platform, which is now available on Apple devices.

Why: OpenAI is building this infrastructure to gain control over its marketing investments, improve measurement capabilities, and enable automation of advertising operations. The move reflects the company's shift toward revenue generation and could potentially lay the groundwork for ChatGPT to become an advertising platform itself, allowing the company to bypass traditional agencies entirely.