OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads with Sponsored Agents • Hacker News Board

Re: OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads with Sponsored Agents

#111

Post by probably_wrong » Wed, Sep 16, 2026, 4:24 PM UTC

pluc wrote: post #18

How else are they to monetize text outputs? This was always the plan and it's going to get much worse (or better depending on which side of the fence you're on). Google did the same thing when it controlled web indexation: ads, sponsored results and SEO. All of these things will be coming to agents: you will be monetized or you will be paying not to be.

> How else are they to monetize text outputs?

Sam Altman famously said in 2024 "I kind of think of ads as a last resort for us for a business model." So perhaps we could ask him first what his other plans were and why they didn't work.

Re: OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads with Sponsored Agents

#112

Post by rodonn » Wed, Sep 16, 2026, 4:37 PM UTC

pdyc wrote: post #88

i am not clear what exactly will these agents do? are they like ai sales rep for brand for talking to user if they want to explore the product further?

Yeah, basically this. Some people really do click on ads that are relevant to their interests and might want to learn more or be able to ask questions about the product. I'm not confident about how well it will work in practice, but I could imagine cases where this would be more helpful than clicking on the ad link and needing to explore the resulting website to find the information I want.

Re: OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads with Sponsored Agents

#113

Post by 0c3ca83 » Wed, Sep 16, 2026, 4:39 PM UTC

cmiles8 wrote: post #22

Who actually wants this? I guess we’re about to find out if this helps put out the massive pile of burning cash that OpenAI is trying to deal with, but I know nobody that wants this. OpenAI claims we’re near AGI and this is the best strategy they have? Oy vey!

This is a test balloon; the eventual end state is going to be buying bias for model recommendations. With agentic commerce, you end up with this:

> > Hey, ChatGPT, I need a new pair of shoes!

> Of course, Nike has a great pair that just came out. Would you like me to purchase them for you?

Re: OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads with Sponsored Agents

#114

Post by rodonn » Wed, Sep 16, 2026, 4:39 PM UTC

drivebyhooting wrote: post #108

I pay $200/month for ChatGPT. Maybe people should just pay for the service instead of relying of freebies? It’s worth it. Already saved me more than $30,000 in a business transaction by negotiating for me. I’m not going to use a CPA in the coming tax seasons either. I’m determined to not pay for any white collar labor if I can avoid it.

I totally agree about the subscription being worth it for most heavy users, but there are a lot of people in the developing world for whom $20/month is hard to stomach. I think it's good that those people have an option to get more access to AI with lower out of pocket price.

Re: OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads with Sponsored Agents

#115

Post by rodonn » Wed, Sep 16, 2026, 4:40 PM UTC

brendoelfrendo wrote: post #25

haaz wrote: post #11

Honestly I wish every ad had this. If I search for meal delivery services in my area and a sponsored result comes up, I would much rather ask an AI to trawl through the website to find out how much the meals cost, how much meat, protein, calories, etc are in them rather than do it myself

Yeah, but why would you trust the answers from a sponsored agent? Why would you assume it is giving you real, accurate, and complete information rather than selectively giving you what it thinks is most likely to make you click the "buy" button?

I agree that it won't be an unbiased source of information, but should be roughly same level of trustworthiness as clicking on the link and reading the information on the advertiser's website.

Re: OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads with Sponsored Agents

#116

Post by smashed » Wed, Sep 16, 2026, 4:41 PM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #101

cmiles8 wrote: post #22

Who actually wants this? I guess we’re about to find out if this helps put out the massive pile of burning cash that OpenAI is trying to deal with, but I know nobody that wants this. OpenAI claims we’re near AGI and this is the best strategy they have? Oy vey!

I'll be a little contrarian here. I've actually purchased things from Instagram ads. Because they were highly targeted and actually something I wanted once I learned it existed. It was a solution to a problem I had but never researched for a solution. I'm guessing ChatGPT will be able to do the same for me, especially since it probably knows me better than Instagram at this point, just given all the things I ask it.…

Well of course the ads work, that is not quite the point. If social media ads did not work, meta would not be worth over a trillion dollars.

The point is do users want ads? Or more reasonably, should platforms offer a paid, ad-free, experience.

Re: OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads with Sponsored Agents

#117

Post by IncreasePosts » Wed, Sep 16, 2026, 4:43 PM UTC

probably_wrong wrote: post #111

pluc wrote: post #18

How else are they to monetize text outputs? This was always the plan and it's going to get much worse (or better depending on which side of the fence you're on). Google did the same thing when it controlled web indexation: ads, sponsored results and SEO. All of these things will be coming to agents: you will be monetized or you will be paying not to be.

> How else are they to monetize text outputs? Sam Altman famously said in 2024 "I kind of think of ads as a last resort for us for a business model." So perhaps we could ask him first what his other plans were and why they didn't work.

To be fair to sam, he doesn't really have any experience running a successful company not dependent on VC backing

Re: OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads with Sponsored Agents

#118

Post by cmiles8 » Wed, Sep 16, 2026, 4:43 PM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #101

cmiles8 wrote: post #22

Who actually wants this? I guess we’re about to find out if this helps put out the massive pile of burning cash that OpenAI is trying to deal with, but I know nobody that wants this. OpenAI claims we’re near AGI and this is the best strategy they have? Oy vey!

I'll be a little contrarian here. I've actually purchased things from Instagram ads. Because they were highly targeted and actually something I wanted once I learned it existed. It was a solution to a problem I had but never researched for a solution. I'm guessing ChatGPT will be able to do the same for me, especially since it probably knows me better than Instagram at this point, just given all the things I ask it.…

But Instagram ads are just billboards in digital form. The idea of influencing an AI is a whole different ballgame.

Re: OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads with Sponsored Agents

#119

Post by awad » Wed, Sep 16, 2026, 4:44 PM UTC

smashed wrote: post #116

jedberg wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll be a little contrarian here. I've actually purchased things from Instagram ads. Because they were highly targeted and actually something I wanted once I learned it existed. It was a solution to a problem I had but never researched for a solution. I'm guessing ChatGPT will be able to do the same for me, especially since it probably knows me better than Instagram at this point, just given all the things I ask it.…

Well of course the ads work, that is not quite the point. If social media ads did not work, meta would not be worth over a trillion dollars. The point is do users want ads? Or more reasonably, should platforms offer a paid, ad-free, experience.

OpenAI does offer many paid, ad-free experiences. The vast majority of their user base, being consumers, don't take them up on it, but it's been there from pretty much day one.

Re: OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads with Sponsored Agents

#120

Post by therealdrag0 » Wed, Sep 16, 2026, 4:45 PM UTC

grey-area wrote: post #106

therealdrag0 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The “AGI” bar comments are so tiring.

When OpenAI (including Altman, Brockman etc) stop talking about AGI, we can all stop talking about AGI. I'd happily do so. Currently their actions completely contradict their claims of emergent intelligence.

They can talk about AGI without claiming the current model is AI. They can talk about emergent intelligence without claiming it’s AGI. And businesses can work on multiple things with different goals without being contradictory.