Developer Andrew McCalip has introduced the Kickbacks extension for VS Code, offering a new earning model: users can receive up to 50% of the revenue from ads displayed in loading indicators (spinners) while AI agents are working.
What Happened
The Kickbacks project embeds advertisements directly into the waiting interface of tools like Claude Code and Codex. While an AI agent performs a given task, the developer can monetize this non-productive (idle) time.
Context
Technically, the solution works at the VS Code user interface level and does not affect the internal architecture or operational methods of the language models themselves. This is an example of implementing the "Attention-as-a-Service" concept, where user attention during moments of passive waiting becomes a resource for selling advertising.
Why It Matters for the Industry
The emergence of such a model sets a precedent for monetizing pauses in workflows involving AI agents. This could lead to the formation of specialized advertising networks for developers; however, it also carries the risk of UX degradation if latency is intentionally maintained to increase the number of ad impressions.
Why It Matters for Users
For developers, this opens the possibility of passive income, but requires extreme caution: current advertising campaigns in the project primarily belong to crypto projects, increasing the risk of encountering scams or low-quality content.
What Is Not Yet Known / Limitations
There is a risk that such extensions could be blocked by vendors like Claude (Anthropic) or OpenAI due to violations of terms of use or negative impacts on user experience. It is also unclear how scalable this niche will be without technical novelty.
Sources
Author
Look at AI, Editorial Team