Sam Altman didn’t take Anthropic’s Super Bowl roast sitting down.
When Anthropic rolled out a campaign teasing OpenAI’s move to introduce ads in ChatGPT — complete with the tagline “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.” — OpenAI’s CEO pushed back hard on social media. Altman called the spots “funny” but “clearly dishonest,” calling out Anthropic for what he framed as misleading theatrics on the biggest advertising night of the year.
The beef is straightforward: OpenAI said last month it will start testing ads with some free ChatGPT users and ChatGPT Go subscribers in the US Anthropic, meanwhile, announced it will keep Claude ad-free — and then bought airtime during the Super Bowl to hammer that point. The startup is airing a 60-second pregame spot and a 30-second in-game ad that lampoon the idea of ads suddenly popping into intimate chat sessions. One sketch shows a user talking to a therapist-like chatbot that suddenly pivots into a weird dating-service pitch — the kind of jarring switch Anthropic is using to make its case.
Altman replied on X that Anthropic’s commercial misrepresents how OpenAI plans to run ads, calling the ad “deceptive” and arguing OpenAI “would obviously never run ads in the way Anthropic depicts them.” He stressed that any ads OpenAI tests will be clearly labeled, appear at the bottom of answers, and won’t influence ChatGPT’s responses. He also framed OpenAI’s ad move as a mission decision — to keep access free and expand reach to billions who can’t pay for subscriptions.
He didn’t stop there. In the same post Altman accused Anthropic of “doublespeak,” suggested the company prefers control over user behavior, and even threw shade at its price point:
“Anthropic serves an expensive product to rich people,” he wrote, contrasting that with OpenAI’s goal of broader free access.
Social media, predictably, ate it up. Some users mocked Altman’s lengthy takedown as the digital equivalent of a tantrum; others turned the “doublespeak” charge back on him. X product head Nikita Bier offered blunt advice:
“Never respond to playful humour with an essay.”
Critics noted the irony of spending a paragraph-long post criticizing a pricey Super Bowl ad — the very kind of splashy marketing Anthropic is using.
A little context: Anthropic was founded in 2021 by ex-OpenAI researchers and the rivalry has been fierce ever since. Both firms have raised huge sums and are tussling for users, enterprise contracts and headlines. So this wasn’t just a cute ad buy — it was a direct, expensive jab. Super Bowl airtime isn’t cheap (a 30-second spot can run into the millions), and Anthropic’s move signals it’s treating the competitive fight as serious theater, not just friendly ribbing.
Anthropic hasn’t publicly clapped back in detail yet; a company spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. But the ad’s message is simple and memetic: keep your AI free of ads, and choose Claude if you don’t want marketing interrupting conversations.
OpenAI’s defense is also straightforward: ads are a way to support free access, and the company says it will do so transparently and without letting ads change how the model answers. Whether users accept that distinction is the billion-dollar question. For many people, the idea of ads seeping into chat threads — even clearly labeled ones at the bottom — feels jarring.
At the end of the day, both sides are playing to different audiences. Anthropic’s spot courts privacy-and-user-first sentiment with a splash of Super Bowl spectacle. Altman is selling scale and a model where free access is funded by advertising for those who can’t subscribe. It’s a clash of philosophies as much as ad campaigns — and, for now, it’s playing out live on America’s loudest advertising stage.
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