OpenAI to Roll Out Upgraded Chat Model and Codex; Announces ChatGPT Ad Testing Amid $1T Financing Talks (2/9/2026)

OpenAI reported ChatGPT monthly growth has surpassed 10% again, signaling renewed user momentum. The company is preparing to release an upgraded chat model and is testing ads within ChatGPT for U.S. free and Plus users, with ads clearly marked and not affecting content generation. Internal Slack updates show weekly active users for ChatGPT exceeded 800 million. Growth in Codex surged 50% in a single week, with OpenAI releasing GPT-5.3-Codex and a macOS standalone app. The firm is navigating competition from Google, Anthropic, and Amazon amid discussions of a potential $1 trillion financing in two tranches, with Amazon reportedly evaluating a $500 billion investment and SoftBank about $300 billion. Key growth drivers highlighted to investors include strong consumer product adoption, expanding enterprise client base, and access to critical compute resources. OpenAI expects advertising to contribute less than 50% of its total revenue over the long term.