OpenAI has had a wave of leadership changes. The platform hasn’t slowed down for
By Melissa Burdick · April 16, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
OpenAI has had a wave of leadership changes.
The platform hasn’t slowed down for a second.
Ads are live.
TBPN was acquired.
ChatGPT is already past 900M weekly active users.
And OpenAI sees ads becoming a massive business over the next few years ($100B by 2030!)
That's what makes moments like this so important for brands. Brands that learn now will understand this channel in a way that's very hard to replicate later.
I asked Eric Franchi this directly when I was on the Marketecture Media podcast a few weeks ago:
Is it better to be first, or a fast follower?
His answer: first.
Not every early channel becomes huge. But early movers build something competitors can't buy later: real learning.
By the time everyone agrees it matters, the early players are already smarter.
Being first doesn't have to mean making a huge bet. It just means getting close enough to understand where the puck is going before the rest of the market gets there. That's the advantage.
So when it comes to OpenAI:
better to be first, or a fast follower?