Hey Nerds!
Welcome to issue #10 of this newsletter.
So today we're gonna speak about:
- New OpenAI and Stripe Integration, and also Agentic Commerce Protocol
- Ads based on conversation with AI
- OpenAI ( again ) and personalized AI
New OpenAI and Stripe Integration. ACP
There are plenty of predictions of how AI will grow. CloudFlare got ones, NVIDIA has its own, and so on.
To cut a long story short, for normal people, I would define three:
- Wave 1 - AI is growing, helping us to make decisions, and start taking over some jobs. We already passed this with early AI and LLMs.
- Wave - 2 - Agentic AI - AI starts doing some tasks for us. WE ARE HERE
- Wave - 3 - AI have connected to a physical world - yeah, robots, cyborgs, terminators.
Agentic AI is great. I am currently using different agents to do small tasks for me: gather information, check my calendar, and even parse my email. Eventually, we are all going to go there.
Also, more and more people are using ChatGPT instead of the internet. And it is convenient—it is way easier to ask ChatGPT to search for some information or check what happened rather than go to the internet and find out that you have cancer. Seriously, we should have Olympic games on how quickly we can Google something to find that we have cancer.
So it was just a question of time—when users will be able to buy anything via ChatGPT and when payments will be handled via chat rather than through the checkout forms we are so used to.
OpenAI and Stripe presented that feature last week:
When someone asks a shopping question—“best running shoes under $100” or “gifts for a ceramics lover” — ChatGPT shows the most relevant products from across the web. Product results are organic and unsponsored, ranked purely on relevance to the user.
If a product supports Instant Checkout, users can tap “Buy,” confirm their order, shipping, and payment details, and complete the purchase without ever leaving the chat. Existing ChatGPT subscribers can pay with their card on file, or other card and express payment options.
Yes! Magic happened - now you can buy via ChatGPT all the goods AI proposes to you. And Stripe can be used as a Checkout provider.
From other interesting points:
- OpenAI is open-sourcing the Checkout module and what they call the Agentic Commerce Protocol. Using ACP Chat can "talk" to eCommerce, discover products, find pricing, and of course buy.
- Checkout is extremely simple, and as OpenAI mentions, one line of code will make your products "chat ready."
- Now, only Etsy was presented, but that was only a question of time.
In short words - ChatGPT just turned into a mini-Amazon with better grammar :)
And even if it sounds simple, it is more complex inside. Especially, taking into account how users open with ChatGPT. Just think about use cases:
- Hey, I know that you have problems with your girlfriend. Here are presents you can buy for her to make her happier!
- Two weeks ago, you asked about health issues —look at these amazing iHerb products you can buy to improve your mornings!
- Do you remember our conversation about favorite movie? Look, you can buy a poster with that character we were talking about!
Today it’s “buy this mug.”
Tomorrow it’s “book my flight, reorder my meds, send flowers to my ex (pls don’t).”
ACP basically gives agents permission to act with your wallet.
What Can Go Wrong (and Will)
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It’s U.S. only for now. The rest of us will have to keep typing “take my money” for a while.
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Only one item per checkout at launch. So, no full shopping cart experience yet.
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You still rely on OpenAI’s ranking logic. “Fair and transparent,” sure — until Etsy sellers start fighting for that sweet ChatGPT top spot.
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Refunds, disputes, and shady sellers will be fun once the AI does the buying for you.
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And finally, what happens when the AI gets too good at selling? Imagine ChatGPT casually suggesting, “You seem stressed — wanna buy a weighted blanket for $89.99?”
What It Means for You
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For merchants: if you sell anything online and don’t integrate ACP, you’re basically invisible to AI shoppers.
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For developers: this is a new gold rush. Every agent, every LLM app will need ACP integration to transact.
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For users: say goodbye to shopping websites. Say hello to “prompt-to-purchase.”
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For regulators: get ready to explain to Congress what happens when an AI buys something it shouldn’t.
And I am not even talking about future SEO, which will become AEO ( AI Engine Optimization ). This is highway to hell advertising for OpenAI. Zuck should be worried.
Ads based on your conversations with AI from Meta
Since we've started talking about Zuck and Ads.
It seems Zuck finally cracked the code to get access to your conversation data for target ads. You remember all these weird AI bots that Meta launched for the last two years? I have not tried them much since my depressive thoughts were handled by ChatGPT, but it seems many people were still talking to ZuckAI.
So, what has changed?
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If you chat with Meta AI (text or voice), Meta will treat that dialogue as a signal — just like your likes, follows, or page interactions — to personalize ads and content.
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The policy kicks in mid-December. Users will get notifications starting October 7.
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You can’t opt out of this new data usage — at least not if you use Meta AI.
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Meta says some “sensitive topics” (religion, health, politics, sexual orientation, etc.) won’t be used for ad targeting.
Now, it makes sense for Meta to build better and better AI. Not only to share their Llama models as open-weight models, but also to provide a more personalized experience to push users to be as open as possible in conversations with bots, a.k.a. to get more information for better targeted ads.
Why am I worried?
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Chat feels more private than browsing
When you surf e-commerce sites, you expect tracking, cookies, etc. But when you talk to an AI, you expect something closer to “private conversation.” Using that data for ads feels more intrusive.
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No escape hatch
You can adjust ad preferences on Meta already. But here, there’s no real opt-out if you engage with Meta AI. You either use it and get tracked, or don’t use it at all. Tho I am not a huge fan of Meta AI, but I am a huge user of Meta Glasses, and the only way you can get photos or videos from it is via Meta AI. So, even though I am not speaking with Meta AI bots, Meta knows what I see and what I am making a photo of.
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Blurring “user intent” with “recommendation”
Suppose I ask Meta AI, “I’m thinking of buying a bass guitar.” Under the new system, I’ll start getting ads for guitars, amps, and music lessons. That makes sense, but it also shifts the AI from “assistant” to “shopping agent + ad broker.”
At least now, every time an ad is so targeted, we won't think that Meta is listening to us. We would know that we've told Meta all the needed information.
Personalized AI from OpenAI
And again about OpenAI.
They've acquired one more startup, Roi, which is all about personalized finance. Roi will be turned off on October 15th, and OpenAI will not receive any access to users' financial data.
So it is acqui-hire. Not the first and definitely not the last.
It is very interesting to see how OpenAI is acquiring more and more startups to finally build its AI, which will be an essential part of your life. But it will be a proactive part of your life.
Just think:
- OpenAI released Pulse. Pro-active functionality where ChatGPT will do research for topics that "might be" interesting for you based on everything it knows about you.
- OpenAI acquired Jony Ive's startup and plans to release some "personalized device"
- OpenAI acquires Statsig - a feature flag platform which can be used by their customers for A/B testing or by OpenAI to validate what "feels more personalized"
- Now they acqui-hired Roi. Founders who understand how to build personalization based on finance.
- And now OpenAI releases their ACP.
Agents who can spend your money, personalize, and possibly have knowledge of your finances? Sounds like a booming collection.
OpenAI is definitely trying to build more revenue streams because its infrastructure costs billions ( support and growth ). So personalization, which is integrated with ACP superficially, can create an alternative internet, where advertisement is replaced by "recommendation" from your very personal assistant.
Community News
First of all, our collection of templates is growing! One additional tool is added every week:
Second - we have a new site! Just visit sonerdy.me and see for yourself!
Third, we are releasing a new course: So You Want to be a Manager. This course is for those who are interested in switching to a managerial position and looking for information that will help them make the right decision!
And finally, next week we will increase our monthly subscription cost. So if you wanted to try So Nerdy! - it is a good moment to get subscription for the old price :)
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