OpenAI has introduced new artificial intelligence tools for advertisers and started testing business-sponsored AI agents that users can interact with through ChatGPT, as the company expands its presence in the growing market for AI-driven marketing.
The company announced the developments on Wednesday, introducing the Sponsored Agents feature along with new capabilities for its ChatGPT Ads Manager. The new tools are designed to give advertisers additional ways to create, manage and analyse advertising campaigns while allowing businesses to interact with ChatGPT users through sponsored AI agents.
OpenAI’s Sponsored Agents feature will allow users to begin conversations with business-sponsored agents and visit a company’s website after interacting with advertisements in ChatGPT. The sponsored agents will be clearly labelled, and OpenAI said they will remain separate from ChatGPT’s independent responses as well as the user’s original conversation.
The Sponsored Agents feature is currently being tested with select advertisers in the United States. OpenAI has not said that the feature is broadly available to all advertisers or users.
Alongside Sponsored Agents, OpenAI is expanding the capabilities of ChatGPT Ads Manager. The tool will allow advertisers to use natural-language prompts to create, update and analyse advertising campaigns.
Advertisers will also be able to use Ads Manager to turn a website or campaign brief into an advertising campaign. The tool can review campaign performance and provide recommendations to advertisers based on the information available to it.
Ads Manager can also suggest advertising copy and images using an advertiser’s landing page and campaign objective. This allows advertisers to generate campaign materials based on information already provided about the campaign and the intended objective.
OpenAI has also introduced an optional AI text-customisation feature within the advertising tools. The feature can adjust existing headlines and descriptions according to the context of a conversation. It can also translate advertising copy into a user’s preferred language.
The company has partnered with businesses as it expands these advertising capabilities. HubSpot is OpenAI’s first customer relationship management, or CRM, partner, while Shopify is its first e-commerce partner.
Shopify’s integration with the advertising offering is scheduled to launch internationally in markets where ChatGPT Ads is available. The rollout is set to begin on September 23.
The new advertising tools and Sponsored Agents come as OpenAI increases its efforts in AI-driven marketing. The company is giving advertisers tools to manage campaigns using natural-language prompts while also testing a format that allows users to communicate directly with business-sponsored AI agents.
Under the Sponsored Agents model, users can interact with an agent after engaging with an advertisement in ChatGPT. The agents are designed to provide a separate interaction from ChatGPT’s independent responses and the user’s existing conversation. OpenAI said the sponsored nature of these agents will be clearly labelled.
The company’s Ads Manager is also designed to support several stages of the advertising process. Advertisers can use natural-language prompts to create campaigns, make updates, analyse results, review performance and receive recommendations. They can also use existing websites or campaign briefs as inputs for creating campaigns.
The optional text-customisation feature adds another capability by allowing existing headlines and descriptions to be adjusted to match the context of a conversation. The tool can also translate advertising copy into the language preferred by the user.
OpenAI’s partnership with HubSpot and Shopify gives the advertising tools connections to both customer relationship management and e-commerce businesses. HubSpot is the company’s first CRM partner, while Shopify is its first e-commerce partner.
The Shopify app will be launched internationally in markets where ChatGPT Ads is available, beginning September 23.
With the Sponsored Agents test and expanded Ads Manager capabilities, OpenAI is developing additional tools for businesses seeking to use ChatGPT for advertising and marketing. The company is currently testing sponsored agents with select U.S. advertisers while expanding campaign creation, management and analysis capabilities through Ads Manager.
