March 26 (Reuters) - OpenAI's ChatGPT ads pilot in the

United States has crossed the $100 million annualized revenue

mark within six weeks of launch, a company spokesperson said on

Thursday, pointing to robust early demand for the AI startup's

nascent advertising business.

Sam Altman-led OpenAI had said in January that it would

start showing ads in ChatGPT to some U.S. users, ramping up

efforts to generate revenue from the AI chatbot to fund the high

costs of developing the technology. The ads were to be tested

with users on the company's free tier and the lower-priced Go

plan.

The ads are separate from the answers generated by ChatGPT

and do not influence its outputs. User conversations are not

shared with marketers, the company said at the time.

While roughly 85% of users are currently eligible to see

ads, fewer than 20% are shown ads daily, with considerable room

to grow ad monetization within the existing user pool, the

spokesperson said.

"We're seeing no impact on consumer trust metrics, low

dismissal rates of ads, and ongoing improvements in the

relevance of ads as we learn from feedback," OpenAI said.

The company plans to expand the test globally in additional

countries in the coming weeks, including in Australia, New

Zealand, and Canada.

OpenAI has now expanded to over 600 advertisers, with nearly

80% of small- and medium-sized businesses signaling interest in

ChatGPT ads, the spokesperson said.

The ChatGPT maker is set to launch self-serve advertiser

capabilities in April to broaden access and drive further

growth.

David Dugan, a former Meta ads executive, was named

to lead OpenAI's global advertising solutions team earlier this

week.

Analysts said that ads could unlock a significant revenue

stream from millions of ChatGPT users, but the move could irk

some customers and hurt trust in the product.