Anthropic's Super Bowl campaign takes a dig at OpenAI over ads in AI chatbots

The Super Bowl seems to have become the stage for a heated exchange between two of Silicon Valley's AI companies.

Anthropic, the startup behind Claude, aired four commercials on Wednesday that took direct shots at competitors planning to introduce advertisements into its AI chatbot. While no company was named, the target was unmistakable: OpenAI and its ChatGPT platform.

The AI startup released four ad films, each of which followed the same formula. A person seeking professional help - from a therapist, a lawyer, or another expert - only to have the conversation interrupted mid-advice by a jarring product placement.

One spot opens with the word ‘Betrayal’ flashing on screen before showing a therapy session derailed by a dating app advertisement. Other ads begin with equally provocative words: ‘Violation, ‘Deception,’ and ‘Treachery.’

All four end with the same message: "Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude."

The timing wasn't coincidental. OpenAI recently announced it would test advertisements in ChatGPT, and recent reports suggested the company will be asking advertisers to commit at least $200,000 upfront to participate in the initial launch.

In a blog post accompanying the commercials, the startup explained its stance. Users share personal information and context when interacting with Claude, making them potentially vulnerable to influence from chatbot responses. Inserting general or targeted ads into these conversations would be ‘incongruous and inappropriate,’ according to the post.

Following the launch of the campaign, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman didn't let the ads pass without comment.

Within hours, he posted a lengthy response calling Anthropic's commercials dishonest.

"First, the good part of the Anthropic ads: they are funny, and I laughed," Altman wrote. "But I wonder why Anthropic would go for something so clearly dishonest. Our most important principle for ads says that we won't do exactly this; we would obviously never run ads in the way Anthropic depicts them."

Altman accused Anthropic of using "doublespeak to use a deceptive ad to critique theoretical deceptive ads that aren't real." He insisted OpenAI knows its users would reject the intrusive ad format shown in the commercials.

Beyond defending ChatGPT's approach to advertising, Altman aimed at Anthropic's business model and broader philosophy. "Anthropic serves an expensive product to rich people," he wrote. "We are committed to free access, because we believe access creates agency. More Texans use ChatGPT for free than the total people use Claude in the US."

The exchange highlights a fundamental tension in the AI industry: how to make powerful chatbots accessible while keeping the lights on.

OpenAI's free tier has brought ChatGPT to millions who can't afford subscriptions. Introducing ads appears to be one way the company plans to sustain that model. Altman emphasised this point, noting that users who pay for ChatGPT Plus or Pro won't see advertisements.

Anthropic, meanwhile, has positioned itself as the premium, ad-free alternative. The AI startup's Super Bowl strategy seemed simple: seize the moment when a competitor plans to monetise through ads became public, and draw a clear line in the sand.

Altman closed his response by promoting OpenAI's own Super Bowl ad about ‘builders’.

"This time belongs to the builders, not the people who want to control them."

Whether users ultimately care more about free access or ad-free experiences remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: the battle for AI chatbot supremacy just got a lot more public.