AI Ad Revenue Drama Sweeps Davos; A Higher Threads Count

Recorded: Jan. 22, 2026, 8:03 a.m.

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AI Ad Revenue Drama Sweeps Davos; A Higher Threads Count | AdExchanger

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Home Marketers AI Ad Revenue Drama Sweeps Davos; A Higher Threads Count

Marketers
AI Ad Revenue Drama Sweeps Davos; A Higher Threads Count By AdExchanger

Thursday, January 22nd, 2026 – 12:03 am
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Fighting In Switzerland
The news from Davos this week has, unsurprisingly, focused on President Donald Trump’s latest will-they-won’t-they. As in, will the US seize Greenland?
But there’s also another saga unfolding over whether AI startups and research companies can justify their sky-high valuations and spending sprees with meaningful revenue.
Some argue that OpenAI has already missed the boat, having waited too long to enter the ad market and thereby giving Google’s Gemini time to catch up and establish a large and growing pool of AI search ad revenue.

Others, however, think OpenAI moved too soon.
“It’s interesting they’ve gone for that so early,” Demis Hassabis, CEO of Alphabet-owned DeepMind, told journalist Alex Heath earlier this week regarding OpenAI’s decision to introduce ads in ChatGPT. “Maybe they feel they need to make more revenue.”
Um, duh?
Must be nice to have Google’s ad revenue to help pay the bills for an ostensibly purer, ad-free research lab.
“Early is a weird word,” OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar retorted later at Davos. “In ad models, you have to be at scale. Sub-scale ad models don’t work, so that would be early.”
As Friar put it, “when you have 800 million weekly active users, you’re really far beyond many of the companies who started in that model.”
Threading The Needle

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And, speaking of platforms adding ads, Meta just announced that all Threads users will begin to see ads next week.
This one is less of a surprise (not that we were particularly surprised by OpenAI either).
Threads first launched its ads business last January with a small group of advertisers and began expanding to all buyers globally in April, “with initial delivery to users in select markets.” (Meta neglected to mention exactly which markets.)
Ads on Threads are powered by Meta’s personalized AI system, so advertisers can likely expect targeting that’s similar to what they get on Facebook and Instagram. The ads appear natively in the Threads feed and come in several formats, including multiple aspect ratios, carousel units and Meta Advantage+ catalog ads that show people products tailored to their interests and behavior.
Meta says the expansion will be “gradual,” with ad delivery “initially remaining low.”
We’ll see how long that lasts.
In The Ring
Paramount Skydance increasingly relies on sports as the anchor for its streaming business.
Like other major broadcasters with a streaming business, it shells out hundreds of millions for sports streaming rights – which is a very compelling wallet opener for streaming subscribers.
Case in point: Over the summer, Paramount signed a $7.7 billion deal for seven years of US airing rights to UFC events, Variety reports.
But sports are also the main attraction for advertisers. On Wednesday, Paramount introduced programmatically enabled ads for select live sports inventory on Paramount+. The ad units, within what Paramount calls its “marquee sporting events,” will debut in a UFC match on January 24.
Meanwhile, Paramount is fighting outside of the octagon, too – locked in a heated bidding war with Netflix over who gets to acquire Warner. Bros. Discovery.
Sports rights could prove decisive. So, let the real battle begin.
But Wait! There’s More!
Remember back in November when Meta was cleared of allegations that it holds an illegal social networking monopoly? Well, the FTC is appealing the decision. [Ars Technica]
Accessibility for disabled people is no longer optional for advertisers. [PR News]
Expect prices to finally start going up as vendors run out of pre-tariff inventory stockpiles, says Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. [Business Insider]
TikTok is planning a big ecommerce push. [The Information]
In 2025, consumers spent more on non-game mobile apps than games for the first time, thanks in no small part to AI chatbots. [TechCrunch]
Yet another study shows that CEOs and employees disagree on whether AI is making them more productive. [WSJ]
Here’s an interesting use case for AI: making sure your co-workers aren’t mad at you. [Bloomberg]
Following intense artist backlash, San Diego Comic-Con has banned the display of AI-generated images within the convention’s art show. [404 Media]
You’re Hired!
Advertising resource management platform MINT appoints Louisa Wong as CEO. [release]
Go-to-market firm Marketbridge hires Mike Swartz as chief growth officer and Ellie Ahmadi as SVP of global corporate marketing. [release]
Will McGivern-Smith joins attribution platform Fairing as SVP of strategic partnerships. [release]
Media intelligence startup Guideline appoints three new senior leaders. [release]
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The Davos Forum this week, dominated by the ongoing saga surrounding President Trump’s attempts to seize Greenland, also witnessed a significant debate regarding the valuations and spending of artificial intelligence startups. The core of the discussion centered on whether OpenAI had missed a crucial window by entering the advertising market, allowing Google’s Gemini to establish a dominant position in AI-powered search ad revenue.

OpenAI’s CEO, Demis Hassabis, suggested that the company’s early entry was driven by a need to generate revenue, a sentiment echoed by OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar, who emphasized the scale required for effective ad models – 800 million weekly active users being a key benchmark. This highlights a fundamental tension within the AI landscape: the pursuit of rapid growth versus the need for sustainable, revenue-generating models.

Beyond OpenAI, Meta’s decision to introduce advertisements on Threads generated considerable discussion. Following a similar rollout with its own ad business last January, Meta expanded ad delivery to all Threads users in April, although the precise markets involved remained undisclosed. These ads are powered by Meta’s personalized AI system, mirroring targeting capabilities on Facebook and Instagram, and utilize formats including multiple aspect ratios, carousel units, and Meta Advantage+ catalog ads. Meta's approach to scaling ad revenue appears to be a gradual one, with initial delivery remaining “low,” a strategy likely influenced by the ongoing concerns surrounding OpenAI's overspending.

Meanwhile, Paramount Skydance’s increasing reliance on sports rights as a cornerstone of its streaming business was also a significant topic. The company’s recent $7.7 billion deal for seven years of US airing rights to UFC events demonstrates the compelling "wallet opener" effect of sports subscriptions, aligning with broader trends among major broadcasters adapting to streaming. This strategy is further reflected in Paramount’s efforts to secure advertising inventory within its “marquee sporting events” through programmatically enabled ads debuting in a UFC match on January 24th. The competitive landscape, with Netflix engaged in a heated bidding war for Warner. Bros. Discovery, underscores the strategic importance of sports rights in securing long-term streaming success.

Several additional developments contributed to the Davos narrative. Concerns surrounding antitrust issues related to Meta’s social networking monopoly, leading to the FTC appealing a previous decision, were noted. Further, the industry acknowledged the growing importance of accessibility for disabled individuals in advertising, driven by regulatory pressures. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy indicated that price increases were inevitable due to dwindling pre-tariff inventory stockpiles, reflecting broader supply chain challenges. TikTok’s planned ecommerce push and Consumer spending on non-game mobile apps surpassing games for the first time in 2025, fueled by AI chatbots, also received attention. Finally, the ongoing debate about the impact of AI on productivity– with CEOs and employees disagreeing on whether it’s making them more productive- was noted alongside concerns about AI’s misuse, such as ensuring co-workers aren’t unhappy with your work. A final development was San Diego Comic-Con’s ruling to ban the display of AI-generated images.

Several key staffing moves were announced, including Louisa Wong becoming CEO of MINT, Mike Swartz joining Marketbridge as chief growth officer and Ellie Ahmadi as SVP of global corporate marketing, and Will McGivern-Smith joining attribution platform Fairing as SVP of strategic partnerships. Furthermore, media intelligence startup Guideline appointed three new senior leaders.