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Why does ChatGPT need to know that? That should be illegal.

by sigzero 7d ago

jsrozner 7d ago
Because it's another surveillance adtech company from SillyCon Valley. Duh.
- SoftTalker 7d ago
  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 7d ago
    Governments will also pay for the tracking capabilities, as they're already doing to Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc.
    - SoftTalker 7d ago
      Yes, I should have said "ads and tracking" good point.
  - jsrozner 7d ago
    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., https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/technology/iran-china-autonomous-ai-influence-campaigns.html https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/technology/iran-china-aut...
    - andsoitis 7d ago
      > 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_ 7d ago
        [dead]
    - deleted 7d ago
      [deleted]
eli 7d ago
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.
- kibwen 7d ago
  >> 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.
- gruez 7d ago
  >Safari and Firefox should isolate the cookie by default. That's what firefox's total cookie protection (enabled by default) does.
- driverdan 7d ago
  > 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 7d ago
    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 7d ago
    Oops sorry that should have read "sell"
- troupo 7d ago
  > Safari and Firefox should isolate the cookie by default Doesn't mean you won't be tracked by about 15 other means.
dofm 7d ago
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.
charcircuit 7d ago
Attribution is a core part of building an ads system.

Why does ChatGPT need to know that? That should be illegal.

jsrozner 7d ago

Because it's another surveillance adtech company from SillyCon Valley. Duh.

SoftTalker 7d ago
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 7d ago
  Governments will also pay for the tracking capabilities, as they're already doing to Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc.
  - SoftTalker 7d ago
    Yes, I should have said "ads and tracking" good point.
- jsrozner 7d ago
  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., https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/technology/iran-china-autonomous-ai-influence-campaigns.html https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/18/technology/iran-china-aut...
  - andsoitis 7d ago
    > 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_ 7d ago
      [dead]
  - deleted 7d ago
    [deleted]

eli 7d ago

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.

kibwen 7d ago
>> 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.
gruez 7d ago
>Safari and Firefox should isolate the cookie by default. That's what firefox's total cookie protection (enabled by default) does.
driverdan 7d ago
> 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 7d ago
  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 7d ago
  Oops sorry that should have read "sell"
troupo 7d ago
> Safari and Firefox should isolate the cookie by default Doesn't mean you won't be tracked by about 15 other means.

dofm 7d ago

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.

charcircuit 7d ago

Attribution is a core part of building an ads system.