OpenAI announced a test of interactive AI agents that users can engage with after clicking ads inside ChatGPT, deepening its push into advertising with new tools and partnerships involving HubSpot and Shopify.
The feature, called Sponsored Agents, gives users who tap an ad the option of opening a dialogue with an AI agent backed by that advertiser. As an example, OpenAI described a shopper who clicks an ad for a dining table and may have questions about dimensions, seating capacity, or how to maintain the finish. After the interaction, users can follow a link to the business’s website. Those interactions will carry clear labels and will not be mixed in with ChatGPT’s own answers or the conversation the user was already having, the company said. The feature is being tested with select advertisers in the United States.
OpenAI also introduced an Ads Manager plugin through which advertisers can issue plain-language instructions to build, modify, and measure campaigns. From there, advertisers can spin up a campaign from a URL or a brief, check how it is doing, and get suggestions for improvement. The tool can propose headlines, body text, and visuals drawn from an advertiser’s landing page and the goals of a given campaign. OpenAI said an optional AI text-customization feature can rephrase headlines and descriptions to fit the flow of a conversation and render ad copy in a user’s preferred language.
On the partnership side, HubSpot is OpenAI’s first customer relationship management partner, and Shopify is its first e-commerce partner, according to Reuters. Businesses using HubSpot can now connect a ChatGPT Ads account there to build campaigns, track performance, and follow up on leads. HubSpot said it is also launching an AI Growth Bundle with OpenAI that offers HubSpot Starter and credits at up to 65% off for one year, a buy-one-get-one-free offer on ChatGPT Business seats, and a $750 match on ChatGPT Ads spend for new accounts opened by September 30. U.S. merchants on Shopify can use a new ChatGPT Ads app, with the app set to expand to other markets where ChatGPT Ads is available beginning September 23.
“Putting AI to work shouldn’t require businesses to rebuild the way they work,” Brian Landsman, VP of Global Partnerships at OpenAI, said in a statement. “Connecting ChatGPT with the customer knowledge in HubSpot helps teams do more with what they already know.”
OpenAI’s advertising operation has been growing. The ad business reached a $1 billion annualized revenue run rate roughly 200 days after launch, with ads running in more than 40 countries. Earlier this month, Amazon announced a deal giving brands on its advertising platform the ability to place ads within ChatGPT, with a U.S. rollout starting among a limited group of brands. OpenAI began offering paid placements inside ChatGPT to U.S. advertisers in February, with early partners that included Best Buy and Williams-Sonoma.
