Anthropic is taking a jab at rival OpenAI in its first-ever Super Bowl commercial this year – blasting the company for introducing ads to ChatGPT and vowing not to do the same with its own bot, Claude.
In the 30-second spot, a guy struggling to complete a pull-up in a park asks a muscular man for advice.
Much like an AI chatbot, the man starts to spit out a robotic answer, according to a video clip posted by The Wall Street Journal.
“That is a clear and achievable goal,” the brawny man says. “But confidence isn’t just built in the gym. Try stepboost max, the insoles that add one vertical inch of height and help short kings stand tall. Use code ‘HeightMaxing10’ for big discounts.”
Then the message, “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude” flashes across the screen.
Though OpenAI is not mentioned by name, the spot is a clear dig at the company, which earlier this year announced it would start rolling out ads to ChatGPT users based on their conversations.
That could open the door to highly-personalized ads, like links to hotels and flights after a user asks the chatbot about planning a vacation – something Anthropic has vowed to avoid.
“Users shouldn’t have to second-guess whether an AI is genuinely helping them or subtly steering the conversation towards something monetizable,” Anthropic wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.
It added that advertising, once introduced to a platform, tends to expand over time and become integrated into revenue targets and product development.
Chatbot ads are only expected to account for a small chunk of the roughly $2 billion brands are expected to spend on AI search-related promos this year, according to eMarketer. But the market for chatbot ads is predicted to over $25 billion by 2029.
Anthropic has another ad that’s set to air before the Super Bowl. In it, a man goes to therapy for help communicating with his mother.
The therapist advises him to focus on shared activities, like a nature walk – or, she suggests, he could seek out emotional connections with other mature women on “Golden Encounters,” a dating site “that connects sensitive cubs with roaring cougars.”
Anthropic, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI execs including Dario Amodei, is seeking to counter fears that AI will chip away at human purpose and intelligence – adopting the motto “Keep Thinking” and positioning Claude as a helper for complex problems.
After starting promos for the chatbot in September, the Super Bowl ad marks a major boost in Anthropic’s promo efforts.
“We thought there was something fun about that,” Andrew Stirk, Anthropic’s head of brand marketing, told The Journal.
“There’s a time and place for ads and we don’t believe your conversations with AI should be one of them.”
Thirty seconds of air time during the Super Bowl costs more than $8 million this year, not counting the tens of millions typically spent to make the ads themselves.
Anthropic is not considered as much of a name brand as OpenAI. But it’s beating the ChatGPT maker in winning over business customers – and now hopes to appeal to users as the more principled option.
Amodei, Anthropic’s president and co-founder, said it would be “exploitative” to introduce ads into the chatbot because users share personal and medical information – even if that decision means the company might miss out on some revenue.
OpenAI previously warned that the use of ads in chatbots could eat away at user trust.
The company has said ads will not influence ChatGPT’s answers and conversations will not be shared with advertisers.
All advertisements will be clearly labeled and shown at the bottom of the screen, and users can opt out of ad personalization, according to OpenAI.
Ads will not be shown to users under 18, or populate in conversations around sensitive topics like politics and mental health, the company added.
