The Seahawks and Patriots aren’t the only ones preparing for a battle.
AI rivals Anthropic and OpenAI have launched an ad war in an attempt to woo corporate America during one of the biggest entertainment nights of the year.
Ahead of the Super Bowl, Anthropic has launched a series of commercials taking a swipe at its rival.
For a skinny 23-year-old who wants a six-pack, a Suggestion of a tattered old man who is about to depict a chatbot Insoles that “help short kings stand up” because “confidence isn’t just built in the gym”. And for the man who is trying to improve communication with his mother: his doctor prescribes “A mature dating site that connects sensitive cubs with roaring cougars” if he can’t work out that relationship.
All four ads end with the same tagline: “Ads are coming to AI. But not to the cloud.” There is no explicit mention of ChatGPT, but the subtext is clear.
Even Sam Altman laughed. But before launching into a longer criticism, he also called the ads “blatantly dishonest.” on x.
“Our most important principle for ads says we absolutely will not do this; we will categorically never run ads the way Anthropic portrays them,” Altman wrote. “We’re not stupid and we know our users will reject it.”
Altman stressed that OpenAI’s decision to include ads has been announced last monthMakes the product more accessible. “We believe everyone deserves to use AI and we are committed to free access,” they wrote. And Altman wasn’t shy about taking a few shots of his own. He wrote, “Anthropic serves an expensive product to rich people. We’re glad they do and so are we, but we also feel strongly that we need to bring AI to the billions of people who can’t pay for subscriptions.” (Cloud has a free subscription versionVery.)
ChatGPT’s advertising policy isn’t live yet, but OpenAI remains on its website Advertisements will be “separate and clearly labeled” and will not influence the answers users see. The company also says it will not share conversations with ChatGPT with advertisers, and is focused on prioritizing trust, claiming it will give users the option to turn off personalization or opt for an ad-free paid plan. The company said the chatbot will initially show ads below replies “when there is one.” Relevant Sponsored Product or Service Based on your current conversation”.
Altman wasn’t always sold on incorporating advertising into ChatGPT’s business model. In October 2024, he described the idea as “last resort“. But in recent years, OpenAI has invested even more heavily in the company’s AI infrastructure Growth in the number of new customers has slowed down.
Anthropic’s criticism of OpenAI did not come out of nowhere: Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI researchers who left it based on concerns about the direction of the company. on AI security. Anthropic wrote on February 4 blog post The cloud will remain ad-free because doing otherwise would prevent the chatbot from becoming a “truly helpful assistant for work and for deep thinking.” The company compared open conversations with AI assistants, which are often highly personal or complex, to having a trusted advisor. “The presence of ads in these contexts would seem incongruous – and, in many cases, inappropriate,” the company wrote.
Even though OpenAI says it will not share user data directly with advertisers, targeted advertising has been more widely criticized for exploiting users’ vulnerabilities. In this case, this concern could spread to ChatGPT users asking questions about their mental and physical health, similar to the issues shown in Anthropic’s commercials. But there’s also an opportunity for targeted advertising can help Along with reining in the most toxic features of AI. Larger corporations may pull out in response to hateful or hateful content. Many websites and apps already have ads, from Google to Instagram, so this may not be a huge adjustment for users.
It’s unclear whether Altman’s efforts to drive more revenue with ads will drive users to ad-free competitors. But Anthropic is betting on it.
