Two rival artificial intelligence firms have escalated their competition with a public clash over advertising, as reported by The Guardian.
Anthropic launched a series of advertisements ahead of the Super Bowl that directly criticise its competitor OpenAI’s plans to introduce ads into its ChatGPT chatbot. The ads depict scenarios where a user seeking fitness advice is suggested insoles, and another seeking relationship counselling is recommended a dating site, ending with the tagline: “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.”
In response, OpenAI’s chief executive Sam Altman called the ads “so clearly dishonest” and stated his company would “obviously never run ads in the way Anthropic depicts them.” He stressed that any advertisements in ChatGPT would be “separate and clearly labeled” and would not influence the answers users see.
OpenAI’s stated policy, which is not yet active, says ads would initially appear at the bottom of answers when a relevant sponsored product is linked to the conversation. The company claims it will not share user conversations with advertisers and will offer options to turn off personalisation or use a paid, ad-free plan.
Altman positioned the move as one of accessibility, arguing it helps provide free access to AI for billions of people. He contrasted this with Anthropic, which he said “serves an expensive product to rich people,” though Claude also has a free version.
The critique from Anthropic has its roots in the company’s founding by former OpenAI researchers who left over concerns about AI safety. In a blogpost, Anthropic argued that keeping its Claude assistant ad-free was essential for it to remain a “genuinely helpful assistant for work and for deep thinking,” suggesting ads in deeply personal conversations would feel “incongruous” or “inappropriate.”
The debate touches on broader concerns about targeted advertising exploiting user vulnerabilities, particularly when questions involve mental or physical health. However, it is also suggested that corporate advertisers buying space may help rein in hateful or egregious AI-generated content.
It remains unclear whether OpenAI’s ad plans will drive users towards ad-free competitors, but Anthropic is positioning its own product on that very distinction.
