Thread

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

764 points · 395 comments · lmbbuchodi

mavsman · 1789923911 · focus · HN ↗
To me, this quote just about sums it up:
> The mechanism is standard adtech. What has no precedent is running it on an AI chat product.
As someone who has been well aware of this mechanism for quite some time, I still feel icky anytime I re-read the details of it.
What a time to be alive.
1. clickety_clack · 1789924907 · focus · HN ↗
  Whenever I say something like “that’s a cool feature, but to do it you would have to build spyware”, everyone else is just like “the cat is out of the bag ¯\_(ツ)_/¯”. (I don’t build spyware, or work on projects that do).
  It blows my mind that people don’t care about the world they are building with this stuff. It’s a real tragedy of the commons. People see these collaborators from different wars and regimes and think “I’d stand up against the bad guy”… well I’ve got news for you if you build spyware, you are not the person you think you are.
  1. kltlp · 1789925463 · focus · HN ↗
    This is the best retort to the bag-escaping cat ever:
    <a href="https://gowers.wordpress.com/2026/09/17/why-i-didnt-sign-the-fields-medallists-letter/#comment-540888" rel="nofollow">https://gowers.wordpress.com/2026/09/17/why-i-didnt-sign-the...
    "Nothing is worse to the demise of a society, than people who want to convince you that the cat is out of the bag and will not go back in, while the cat is being violently shook out of the bag at the same time."
    GolfPopper · 1789929132 · focus · HN ↗
    A great quote, thank you for sharing. It captures much of the five stages of denial (summarized below) in a much pithier form.
    There's nothing in the bag.
    The cat will never get out of the bag.
    It wouldn't be a problem if the cat was out of the bag.
    We cannot possibly keep the cat in the bag.
    Putting the cat back in the bag is not worth trying.

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