Key Points:
- Anthropic purchased a Super Bowl ad to attack OpenAI’s advertising plans.
- The commercial mocks ChatGPT for interrupting users with sales pitches.
- OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called the ad deceptive and defended his company.
- Both companies are fighting for public favor before potential stock market launches.
The Super Bowl on Sunday won’t just be a battle between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. It is also the main stage for a bitter feud between two artificial intelligence giants. Anthropic is spending millions of dollars to air a commercial that directly attacks its biggest rival, OpenAI.
Anthropic’s 30-second spot mocks OpenAI’s decision to put advertisements inside ChatGPT. The ad shows a young man in a park asking a muscular bystander for workout advice. The man replies like a robot and suddenly tries to sell him shoe inserts. The commercial ends with a sharp promise: “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman fired back immediately. In a podcast interview on Thursday, he called the commercial “deceptive.” He argued that his company is not stupid and knows that users would quit if the product became that annoying. Instead of responding with an attack ad, OpenAI plans to use its expensive airtime to promote Codex, its software coding tool.
The stakes are incredibly high. NBC is charging an average of $8 million for a 30-second slot during the game. Neither company is currently profitable, but both are racing to go public later this year. They are fighting for the attention of the 120 million people expected to watch the game.
Marketing experts say this public argument proves that AI companies are just as competitive as traditional businesses. However, they face a tough crowd. Surveys show only 17% of American adults believe AI will have a positive impact on the future.
Both companies are using the biggest TV event of the year to try to fix that image. While OpenAI struggles to tell a compelling story with its ads, Anthropic is taking a risk by going negative. Whether viewers like the ads or not, the rivalry is forcing millions of people to choose a side.
