The Trade Desk jumps on reported deal talks to help OpenAI sell ads
The Trade Desk rose double-digits in premarket trading on Thursday, up more than 16.5% at 5 a.m. ET, after The Information reported that OpenAI has held early partnership talks with the company to help the ChatGPT maker sell ads going forward.
Per the report, OpenAI will initially use external partners to sell ads and scale up its business, having launched ads on ChatGPT just last month. The Trade Desk, which offers an automated platform for advertisers to place ads on a large scale, will apparently be one of those partners. Will Doherty, The Trade Desk’s senior VP of inventory development, oversees partnerships with the platforms and companies where businesses place ads, and is involved in the OpenAI talks, per one of The Information’s sources.
Sam Altman’s company is reportedly planning to bring ad tech functions in-house eventually, including automating sales and offering performance information to advertisers.
Per The Information, OpenAI has projected that the new emphasis on ads could help double revenues from its consumer business to $17 billion, as it looks for different ways to monetize its platform’s ~910 million users. With that in mind, OpenAI has already explored partnerships with retailers like Target, which offers ad services, and has also recently announced a technology partnership with ad tech veteran Criteo.
The partnership arrives as a huge boon for TTD, after revenue growth slowed in the last fiscal year, with shares down more than 30% so far in 2026 before today’s early jump.
Per the report, OpenAI will initially use external partners to sell ads and scale up its business, having launched ads on ChatGPT just last month. The Trade Desk, which offers an automated platform for advertisers to place ads on a large scale, will apparently be one of those partners. Will Doherty, The Trade Desk’s senior VP of inventory development, oversees partnerships with the platforms and companies where businesses place ads, and is involved in the OpenAI talks, per one of The Information’s sources.
Sam Altman’s company is reportedly planning to bring ad tech functions in-house eventually, including automating sales and offering performance information to advertisers.
Per The Information, OpenAI has projected that the new emphasis on ads could help double revenues from its consumer business to $17 billion, as it looks for different ways to monetize its platform’s ~910 million users. With that in mind, OpenAI has already explored partnerships with retailers like Target, which offers ad services, and has also recently announced a technology partnership with ad tech veteran Criteo.
The partnership arrives as a huge boon for TTD, after revenue growth slowed in the last fiscal year, with shares down more than 30% so far in 2026 before today’s early jump.
