Sam Altman Reacts to Anthropic’s Super Bowl Ad
▼ Summary
– Sam Altman criticizes Anthropic’s Super Bowl ad as dishonest and deceptive, stating OpenAI would never run the type of ads it depicts.
– He contrasts OpenAI’s commitment to free AI access for billions of people with Anthropic’s model, which he describes as serving an expensive product to a wealthy niche.
– Altman accuses Anthropic of wanting to control AI usage by blocking certain companies and attempting to dictate rules for what others can do with the technology.
– He emphasizes OpenAI’s commitment to broad, democratic decision-making and a resilient ecosystem as the path to safe, beneficial artificial general intelligence (AGI).
– Altman promotes OpenAI’s new product, Codex, highlighting its rapid adoption and framing the current era as belonging to builders, not controllers.
Sam Altman has shared his pointed reaction to a competitor’s high-profile Super Bowl advertisement, blending praise for its humor with a strong critique of its underlying message. The OpenAI CEO found the Anthropic commercials amusing, but took significant issue with what he describes as their fundamentally dishonest premise.
Altman questioned why Anthropic would create an advertisement he views as clearly misleading. He emphasized that OpenAI’s own advertising principles explicitly forbid the kind of tactics depicted in the rival’s spot, stating his company would never run such campaigns because they understand user rejection would be immediate. He suggested the approach fits a pattern of “doublespeak,” using a deceptive ad to criticize theoretical deceptive ads that don’t actually exist, a strategy he finds surprising for a Super Bowl stage.
The response quickly moved beyond the ad’s content to contrast the two companies’ core philosophies. Altman underscored OpenAI’s commitment to providing free AI access, believing it grants users agency. He highlighted scale, noting that more people in Texas use ChatGPT for free than the total number of Claude users across the entire United States. This, he argued, means the companies face “differently-shaped problems.” For paying subscribers of ChatGPT Plus or Pro, he confirmed, OpenAI does not show ads.
A central theme of Altman’s critique is accessibility versus exclusivity. He characterized Anthropic as serving an expensive product primarily to affluent customers, a business model he respects but sees as incomplete. He expressed a strong conviction that AI must be brought to billions of people worldwide who cannot afford subscription fees, a mission he positions as central to OpenAI’s work.
The commentary then turned to a broader philosophical divide: control versus openness. Altman accused Anthropic of seeking to control how AI is used, citing examples like blocking certain companies, including OpenAI, from using their coding tools and wanting to unilaterally set rules for permissible AI applications. He framed the Super Bowl ad as an extension of this desire to dictate other companies’ business models.
In contrast, Altman positioned OpenAI as committed to “broad, democratic decision-making” and building a resilient ecosystem for advanced AI. He affirmed a deep care for developing safe and broadly beneficial artificial general intelligence (AGI), arguing that collaboration with the global community is the only viable path. He warned that a single “authoritarian company” cannot achieve this goal alone and labeled such a centralized approach a “dark path,” alluding to significant risks.
Shifting to his own company’s Super Bowl presence, Altman described the OpenAI ad as a celebration of builders and the newfound ability for anyone to create. He expressed enthusiasm over user migration to Codex, reporting 500,000 app downloads since its recent launch and teasing exciting upcoming features. He confidently predicted that Codex is “going to win” in the competitive landscape.
The concluding remarks reinforced his vision. Altman pledged continued efforts to make powerful intelligence available at progressively lower costs. He framed the current technological moment as belonging to the builders and innovators, definitively not to those who seek to control them.
(Source: The Verge)
