Ads are inevitable when you are on the internet. These days, Google Search is filled with sponsored results. Although AI has taken over our lives and how we browse the internet, ads are not leaving our backs. Earlier this month, OpenAI revealed its plans to display ads for users in the US on ChatGPT Free and Go plans. For the uninitiated, ChatGPT Go is now also live in the US, after initially debuting in the Indian and Indonesian markets. Having major AI giants already shared their plans about displaying ads inside their AI tools, you would have thought to hear something similar from Anthropic, which is another major player in the AI race. But it didn’t.
Anthropic’s Super Bowl ad roasts rivals over injecting ads into AI assistant
Yesterday, Anthropic officially confirmed that Claude will be ad-free and it doesn’t have any plans to inject ads inside its AI assistant. Interestingly, Anthropic dropped an ad taking a dig at other AI companies who already have plans to display ads. Check the video ad below.
The message seems clear from the video itself and is a perfect marketing tactic to boost Claude among those who are looking to use their AI assistant in an ad-free environment. Anthropic, which was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI research executives, didn’t name OpenAI or ChatGPT in the ad. Rather, it promoted the message that “our users won’t see ‘sponsored’ links adjacent to their conversations with Claude; nor will Claude’s responses be influenced by advertisers or include third-party product placements our users did not ask for.”
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Sam Altman’s response
Rivals were targeted, so you’d assume someone would fire back at that ad, right? Well, it happened. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, was quick to blast the Claude Super Bowl ad. He didn’t hold back in response to Anthropic’s Super Bowl ad, posting on X Wednesday that the OpenAI rival’s campaign is “clearly dishonest” and “on brand” for the company’s tendency to “doublespeak.”
Altman emphasized that OpenAI would never run ads the way Anthropic depicts, saying users would reject such tactics. OpenAI further clarified that its own ad tests will only appear to logged-in users on Free or ChatGPT Go accounts. The company assures that “ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you. Answers are optimized based on what’s most helpful to you. Ads are always separate and clearly labeled.” According to Altman, OpenAI’s Super Bowl ad is “about builders, and how anyone can now build anything.” Check out what he said on X.
First, the good part of the Anthropic ads: they are funny, and I laughed.
— Sam Altman (@sama) February 4, 2026
But I wonder why Anthropic would go for something so clearly dishonest. Our most important principle for ads says that we won’t do exactly this; we would obviously never run ads in the way Anthropic…
All in all, Anthropic is betting big on trust and user experience, positioning Claude as a clean, ad-free alternative in a growing AI market increasingly crowded with monetized assistants. With ads becoming a defining battleground for AI companies, Claude’s approach could appeal to users frustrated with the commercialization of AI interactions.
