• by Wayne Friedman , March 5, 2026

As it faces potential concerns over its slowing revenue -- including that of its connected TV (CTV) business, demand-side platform The Trade Desk has been in talks with OpenAI to sell advertising time on the ChatGPT platform, according to reports.

The Trade Desk's stock spiked 21% on Thursday morning to $30.32 on the news after reports of talks between the two companies.

OpenAI operates the ChatGPT artificial intelligence platform, which has been looking to transform its business as an advertising-supported platform. This past February, ChatGPT started adding ads on the platform.

OpenAI plans to build out its in-house ad-technology operations, according to a story in The Information.

This week, OpenAI announced a partnership with ad-tech firm Criteo to work with new advertisers.

This would be good news for The Trade Desk as analysts have worried that Amazon DSP would be a growing competitor to its business.

Trade Desk representatives did not respond to inquiries from Television News Daily by press time

For years, the Trade Desk has been pushing its Kokai automated platform around better transparency in an "open internet" marketplace, in contrast to "walled garden" digital operators including Google, and Meta.

About 50% of Trade Desk business comes from brands using its automated systems in buying connected TV platforms.

A deal with Open AI would dramatically expand Trade Desk’s revenue, according to some analysts.

ChatGPT has a massive reach of approximately 910 million users.