# AI Is Both the Ad Boom and the Risk

> Global ad revenue is racing past $1.3 trillion, and AI money is doing a lot of the pushing.
- Title: AI Is Both the Ad Boom and the Risk · Adweek | Shortify
- Summary: Global ad revenue is racing past $1.3 trillion, and AI money is doing a lot of the pushing. The ad market's fastest growth is being funded by AI companies…
- Keywords: advertising, ad spend, forecast, media, Both, Boom, Risk, Adweek
- Source: Adweek — https://adweek.com/agencies/ai-buying-platforms-will-manage-27-of-us-ad-spend-by-2030-report
- Author: Christopher Cicchiello
- Published: 2026-09-11T18:36:08+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: advertising, ai, ad spend, forecast, media
## A trillion dollar industry
Advertising crossed $1 trillion in global revenue for the first time in 2024. Madison & Wall now expects the year to close at $1.3 trillion.
## Eleven percent in one year
That $1.3 trillion is an 11% jump year over year. The report calls the pace "unusually rapid" rather than normal market growth.

> unusually rapid
## AI is the engine
Two things are driving it at once. AI firms are building tools that make ad buying more efficient, and they are buying a lot of ads themselves.
## The quarterly numbers
Global ad revenue grew 12.9% in the second quarter of 2026. Strip out U.S. midterm political ads and the third quarter is forecast at 9.8%.
## Money going in circles
AI companies flush with venture capital are spending it on ads, and much of that spend lands with other players in the same boom.

> AI companies, flush with venture capital, are fueling ad growth in a circular way.
## 27% by 2030
The headline forecast: AI buying platforms will control 27% of U.S. ad spend by 2030. What fuels the boom could also set up the bust.

> AI is causing the boom, but may cause the bust
## Key takeaway

The ad market's fastest growth is being funded by AI companies spending venture money, which makes the boom real but not obviously durable.