Battle of the chatbots: Anthropic and OpenAI go head-to-head over ads in their AI products

AI rivals Anthropic and OpenAI have launched a war of ads trying to court corporate America during one of the biggest entertainment nights of the year. Ahead of the Super Bowl, Anthropic has launched a series of ads going hard at its rival. For the scrawny 23-year-old who wants a six-pack, a ripped older man who is supposed to depict a chatbot suggests insoles that "help short kings stand tall" because "confidence isn't just built in the gym". And for the man trying to improve communication with his mom: his therapist prescribes "a mature dating site that connects sensitive cubs with roaring cougars" in case he can't fix that relationship. From'nerdy' Gemini to'edgy' Grok: how developers are shaping AI behaviours All four ads end with the same tagline: "Ads are coming to AI. There's no explicit mention of ChatGPT, but the subtext is clear. But he also called the ads "so clearly dishonest" before diving into a lengthy critique on X . "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 wrote. "We are not stupid and we know our users would reject that." Altman stressed that OpenAI's decision to include ads, announced last month, makes the product more accessible. "We believe everyone deserves to use AI and are committed to free access," he wrote. "Anthropic serves an expensive product to rich people.