A new set of Super Bowl commercials is stirring conversation in the AI world, and this time the spotlight is on the ads themselves. As artificial intelligence tools race to win users, one major player is using football’s biggest stage to take a jab at a rival’s controversial business move. The campaign doesn’t name names directly, but the message seems hard to miss.
Anthropic mocks ChatGPT in new Super Bowl ad
Anthropic, the team behind the AI chatbot Claude, turned heads during Super Bowl LX with a series of ads that seemed to have taken a swipe at OpenAI’s move to introduce ads inside ChatGPT chats. Created specifically for the big game and posted on YouTube ahead of kickoff, the spots sell Claude as a clean, no-ads alternative (via The Wall Street Journal).
The commercials lean into over-the-top humor, showing what happens when people you trust suddenly turn into sales reps. In one sketch, a therapist calmly helps a young man unpack issues in his relationship with his mother, until the tone abruptly shifts. Out of nowhere, she starts promoting a dating app and even offers to “create a profile.”
Another spot centers on a 23-year-old looking to a personal trainer for help putting together a workout plan. Just as the advice starts getting serious, it takes a sharp left turn into a pitch for shoe insoles aimed at so-called “short kings.” All four commercials wrap with the same tagline: “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.”
It appears like a jab at OpenAI’s recent confirmation that advertising will be introduced into ChatGPT, even affecting some paid users. That move raised eyebrows, especially since OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had described ads as a final alternative.
The moment Anthropic chose to roll out this campaign isn’t accidental either. OpenAI has been feeling the heat lately, especially as newer versions of ChatGPT haven’t brought the big leap in performance many users were hoping for.
Originally reported by Rishabh Shandilya on Mandatory.
