What happened
Amazon will let select U.S. brands that use its advertising platform extend their campaigns into ChatGPT, with Amazon managing campaigns and OpenAI deciding ad delivery.
Why it matters
Amazon had spent years protecting its marketplace from outside AI platforms, yet between April and August it became ChatGPT's largest retail advertiser, per Sensor Tower data cited by CNBC.
What to watch
The test is whether ChatGPT becomes a meaningful source of shopping traffic, and whether Amazon decides working with AI platforms beats keeping them outside its walls.
WHO IT HITSThis lands on U.S. brands that advertise through Amazon and on Amazon's advertising and marketplace teams, who now face a decision about whether to treat AI platforms as partners or rivals.
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Amazon has spent years protecting its enormous online marketplace from outside AI platforms while building shopping tools of its own. Its advertisers, meanwhile, increasingly want to reach consumers wherever they are spending time, and ChatGPT now has 900 million weekly active users, according to OpenAI.
Amazon had already started buying ChatGPT ads itself. Between April and August, it became the platform's largest retail advertiser, according to Sensor Tower data cited by CNBC. Now it is bringing some of its advertising customers along. For OpenAI, the timing matters: its young advertising business recently crossed a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate, giving it another way to monetize ChatGPT beyond subscriptions.
The arrangement splits responsibilities: Amazon manages advertiser campaigns, while OpenAI decides how ads are delivered, with sponsored text and images appearing beneath ChatGPT responses. For Amazon investors, the question is whether ChatGPT becomes a meaningful source of shopping traffic, and whether Amazon eventually decides it is better to work with AI platforms than keep them outside its walls.
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