If you’ve ever wanted to click an ad and have a conversation about it with ChatGPT, OpenAI has just made this possible with the launch of Sponsored Agents.
Currently under test in the United States, the new feature enables ChatGPT users to enter conversations with brand-sponsored agents.
These agents are adapted to the brand sponsoring them, and are “distinct” from ChatGPT itself, as well as separate from the original conversations that led to the user clicking on the corresponding ads.
The introduction of Sponsored Agents comes as OpenAI expands ChatGPT Ads with other novel functionality, including natural-language tools for creating and managing campaigns, and integrations with HubSpot and Shopify.
Such features underline how OpenAI is investing more heavily in the growth of its ads platform as it prepares for an eventual IPO, which the company has recently confirmed won’t happen this year.
‘The ability to shape and finetune the agent to meet their specific brand needs’
Currently being tested with “select advertisers in the United States,” the guiding concept of Sponsored Agents is that it provides ChatGPT users with the ability to ask personalized questions about an advertised product or service.
According to OpenAI’s release, users can provide Sponsored Agents with greater information about their particular needs and preferences, which agents can then use to provide more specific recommendations and links to a brand’s website.
While the press release is comparatively short on details about how exactly these new agents will work, a spokesperson for the company told TechRepublic that they will be customised according to a brand’s existing properties.
They said, “We are building Sponsored Agents with a limited set of initial testing partners, giving advertisers the ability to shape and finetune the agent to meet their specific brand needs, based on advertisers’ existing websites and services.”
There’s also no detail in the release on whether the agents will behave like salespeople and proactively ‘push’ products, yet OpenAI has told TechRepublic that “Sponsored Agents do not support purchases.”
“This new ad format is about giving consumers new ways to engage with a business, ask questions, explore products or services, and take next steps,” the spokesperson said. “Brands have the ability to shape the role they want agents to take in helping connect a consumer to the information they are looking for when making a decision.”
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New features, new integrations
OpenAI has complemented the launch of Sponsored Agents with an expansion of its Ads Manager, which now benefits from several tools that can automate the process of generating and analyzing marketing campaigns.
This includes the ability to create ads using only natural-language instructions, while users can also provide the Ads Manager with their own in-house materials (such as websites, landing pages and briefs) to ensure that ChatGPT’s output matches their own for style and tone.
One other new feature is AI-powered text customization, which modifies a brand’s prepared ad copy according to the context of a user’s conversation with ChatGPT, and which can also translate copy if the user speaks a different language.
The San Francisco-based lab has also announced integrations with Shopify and HubSpot, which together represent the company’s first ever e-commerce and CRM partnerships.
From September 23, merchants worldwide will be able to use Shopify to launch and manage ChatGPT ads, which then link back to product listings on the e-commerce platform.
Similarly, the HubSpot integration means that businesses can create ads for ChatGPT within HubSpot’s platform, while also keeping tabs on performance.
These expansions mark a considerable shift from OpenAI’s attitude to ads in May 2024, when CEO Sam Altman described in-app advertisements as a “last resort” for the company, and one that it would avoid if it found better ways to generate income.
Now, its ads business boasts an annualized revenue run rate of $1bn, a milestone it reached within 200 days of launching, with “tens of thousands” of brands using the platform in the US and the EMEA region.
In view of such growth, OpenAI proudly declares in its latest press release that it’s “building an advertising platform with AI at its center.”
And while such statements may represent a big departure from the company’s original mission, they could prove instrumental in preparing the lab for an eventual IPO, which has been delayed amid general AI cybersecurity concerns (and possibly because of loss-making financials).