Criteo Deepens OpenAI Ad Integration, Expands ChatGPT Access

Criteo has expanded its partnership with OpenAI, giving more advertisers access to sponsored placements within ChatGPT. The move deepens the integration the ad-tech firm announced in May when it became OpenAI's first advertising technology partner.

Advertisers using Criteo's platform can now run campaigns that appear in ChatGPT's conversational responses. The company said the expanded access covers a broader set of brands and verticals, though it did not name specific new clients or disclose spending commitments.

The integration places Criteo at the center of a fast-growing experiment in AI-native advertising. OpenAI has been testing sponsored content inside ChatGPT since early this year, and Criteo's role as the programmatic infrastructure layer gives it a gatekeeper position in that channel.

For Criteo, the OpenAI deal represents a shift beyond its traditional retargeting business. The company has spent the past two years repositioning itself as a commerce media platform, and the ChatGPT integration offers a new distribution channel that competes with search and social ad inventory.

Criteo shares have gained roughly 30% since the OpenAI partnership was announced in May. The stock trades at about 12 times forward earnings, a discount to ad-tech peers like The Trade Desk, which trades above 30 times.

The expanded access comes as OpenAI pushes to scale its advertising business. The company hired a former Google ad executive as its first advertising chief earlier this year and has signaled that ad revenue will become a meaningful part of its business model.

Criteo's role in that effort gives it a direct line into the largest AI platform by user base. Whether that translates into sustained revenue growth depends on how quickly brands shift ad dollars from search and social into conversational AI placements.