Thread

ChatGPT now knows what you do on other websites via ad collector

764 points · 395 comments · lmbbuchodi

sigzero · 1789925246 · focus · HN ↗
Why does ChatGPT need to know that? That should be illegal.
1. jsrozner · 1789925353 · focus · HN ↗
  Because it's another surveillance adtech company from SillyCon Valley. Duh.
  1. SoftTalker · 1789925574 · focus · HN ↗
    It turns out that the only way to make money online is ads.
    Nobody is going to pay for ChatGPT. They'll just use the ad-infested version, like they do everything else online. Well some people will pay, but not enough to justify the insane amounts of money being poured into it by investors.
    coliveira · 1789925832 · focus · HN ↗
    Governments will also pay for the tracking capabilities, as they're already doing to Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc.
    SoftTalker · 1789925890 · focus · HN ↗
    Yes, I should have said "ads and tracking" good point.
    jsrozner · 1789925956 · focus · HN ↗
    A bigger problem is that it will be impossible to know when you are seeing an ad: political groups (or the government, perhaps) will partner with openAI to subtly express different values.
    It's still an advertisement, and the underlying marketplace is similar (pay for access to change behavior).
    The best uses of AI will be surveillance, propaganda, cyberterrorism, and automated military tech.
    See, e.g., <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/technology/iran-china-autonomous-ai-influence-campaigns.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/technology/iran-china-aut...
    andsoitis · 1789926840 · focus · HN ↗
    > The best uses of AI will be surveillance, propaganda, cyberterrorism, and automated military tech.
    I think it is more insidious than that. AI shapes how people think not just what they think.
    Terr_ · 1789933614 · focus · HN ↗
    [dead]
    [deleted] · 1789933542 · focus · HN ↗
    [deleted]
2. eli · 1789925537 · focus · HN ↗
  Something like it is basically a requirement if you want to see digital ads. Advertisers want to know how many people who saw/clicked their ad went on to make a purchase.
  Safari and Firefox should isolate the cookie by default.
  1. kibwen · 1789926245 · focus · HN ↗
    >> Why does ChatGPT need to know that? That should be illegal.
    > Something like it is basically a requirement if you want to see digital ads.
    So to summarize, yes, it should be illegal.
  2. gruez · 1789928503 · focus · HN ↗
    >Safari and Firefox should isolate the cookie by default.
    That's what firefox's total cookie protection (enabled by default) does.
  3. driverdan · 1789928582 · focus · HN ↗
    > Something like it is basically a requirement if you want to see digital ads.
    It is not a requirement and no one wants to see ads.
    mepiethree · 1789957848 · focus · HN ↗
    Plenty of people want ads. Every time someone asks “hey ChatGPT what do I need to buy to fix my sink” or “hey Claude what’s the best cat food” or “what’s the best island in the Caribbean for me to visit” they are specifically asking to see an ad.
    eli · 1789962553 · focus · HN ↗
    Oops sorry that should have read "sell"
  4. troupo · 1789930202 · focus · HN ↗
    > Safari and Firefox should isolate the cookie by default
    Doesn't mean you won't be tracked by about 15 other means.
3. dofm · 1789928518 · focus · HN ↗
  To make the only consumer revenue that will really ever be available.
  Remember they once predicted it would be 50% of their income.
  This is the only way they get there.
4. charcircuit · 1789928702 · focus · HN ↗
  Attribution is a core part of building an ads system.

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