GDPR (and ePrivacy before that) requires valid prior consent where optional tracking is used. A site using only technically necessary storage can simply have no consent banner. A business wanting advertising and analytics trackers generally needs some consent interface.

"Not a requirement under GDPR", yes, but certainly not "nothing to do with GDPR". It directly has to do with GDPR, in conjunction with business' decisions and how to comply with the law.

And of course, we can then argue our faces off about what's good and necessary in the world, in businesses and data protection, but saying it has nothing to do with it is just wrong.