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OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads with Sponsored Agents

159 points · 181 comments · vertigoruntime

  1. cmiles8 · · focus · HN ↗
    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!

    1. LewisVerstappen · · focus · HN ↗
      If you don’t want it then just pay for ChatGPT.

      If you’re angry about it and ALSO don’t want to pay then I’m sure OpenAI doesn’t mind losing you as a customer.

      1. joquarky · · focus · HN ↗
        That's not a valid argument to the "OpenAI trained on my content without compensation" crowd.
      2. simoncion · · focus · HN ↗
        > If you don’t want it then just pay for ChatGPT.

        That will work until it very suddenly doesn't. The industry is awash in paid Internet-delivered advert-free services that suddenly got adverts stuck in them.

        And no, if you're in the US getting a refund for breach of contract won't likely be an option unless your contract explicitly permits you to terminate the contract and receive a refund for the unused time. At least one court has determined that adding adverts to a contracted service -in the middle of most contract periods, rather than at renewal time- that was explicitly advertised as advert-free and requiring contractees to pay an additional like 3 USD per month to remove these new adverts wasn't a breach of contract or a price increase, but was rather a "change in subscription benefits" and was A-OK.

        1. JoshTriplett · · focus · HN ↗
          > That will work until it very suddenly doesn't.

          Exactly. Once upon a time, cable didn't have ads, which was its primary advantage. Then they realized that they could charge money for the service and advertise to you.

          1. simoncion · · focus · HN ↗
            > Once upon a time, cable didn't have ads, which was its primary advantage.

            To be pedantic: originally its primary advantage was allowing people who lived in bowls and other places that couldn't get adequate TV reception to watch broadcast TV. Later on, it became a way for those paid subscribers to get access to stuff that wasn't broadcast television.

            1. JoshTriplett · · focus · HN ↗
              Valid pedanticism!
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