The Advertising Model is Coming for AI Agents (And It's Worse Than You Think)

AI agents face unsustainable economics, making advertising inevitable. But unlike traditional ads, AI placements may be invisible—embedded in recommendations shaped by biased training data, RAG retrieval, or affiliate-weighted tools. As platforms like Perplexity and Google experiment with sponsored AI results, the real risk is trust erosion. Hyper-personalized, undisclosed persuasion could redefine digital advertising—and user autonomy.