OpenAI Hires Notch Founders to Boost Ad Products

The startup brings on Vinay and Aman Jain to help expand its automated advertising capabilities.

Updated on Oct. 15, 2026 in Advertising

OpenAI Hires Notch Founders to Boost Ad Products

Live Poll

Do you believe AI-automated advertising agents will lead to better marketing results for small businesses?

OpenAI has hired Vinay Jain and Aman Jain, the co-founders of the startup Notch, to join its growing advertising team. The company aims to integrate their expertise in autonomous ad generation to streamline campaign management for its clients.

Why it matters

OpenAI seeks to reduce the manual labor required for launching ads, making its platform more accessible to small and medium-sized businesses. This move supports the company's objective to expand its advertising business across global markets.

OpenAI currently reports a $1 billion annualised revenue run rate for its advertising business. The startup Notch previously generated over 85,000 advertisements for hundreds of businesses using its AI agent, Max.

The players

OpenAI

OpenAI is an artificial intelligence research organization that develops advanced generative models and has recently expanded into the digital advertising sector.

Vinay Jain

Vinay Jain is a co-founder of Notch who previously spent eight years working at Meta.

Aman Jain

Aman Jain is a co-founder of Notch who previously focused on direct-response advertising systems at Twitter.

The details

Vinay and Aman Jain previously worked at Meta and Twitter, respectively, and founded Notch in 2024 to create autonomous ad systems. Their technology, Max, managed market research and campaign execution, reportedly reducing customer acquisition costs by 30% for the brand Scentless.

Vinay and Aman Jain founded Notch in 2024.
OpenAI introduced natural-language campaign management tools in September 2026.
Notch publicly launched its AI agent Max on September 23, 2026.
News regarding the founders joining OpenAI was published on October 15, 2026.

Market Landscape

OpenAI is aggressively scaling its ad platform by acquiring talent and technology similar to the Notch AI agent Max. This acquisition positions the company to challenge established digital advertising giants by lowering barriers to entry for automated campaign creation.

Small and medium-sized businesses can expect more intuitive, automated tools for managing their ad spend on the OpenAI platform. These features aim to reduce the time and expertise required to launch successful marketing campaigns.

The takeaway

Automated AI tools are rapidly shifting the responsibility of ad creation from humans to software agents. Businesses looking to optimize their marketing budget may soon find it easier to manage complex campaigns with minimal manual input.