OpenAI’s Leaked Super Bowl Ad Was a Hoax
▼ Summary
– A fake, “leaked” Super Bowl ad for OpenAI, featuring actor Alexander Skarsgård with a shiny orb device, was spread online.
– OpenAI executives and a spokesperson publicly dismissed the advertisement as a complete fabrication.
– The Reddit account that posted the “leak” was new and its user had a different professional background just a year prior.
– The hoax was a coordinated effort, with a reporter receiving a paid promotion offer for the fake story a week earlier.
– Other false elements, including a fabricated headline and a fake website, were created to support the deceptive campaign.
In the chaotic aftermath of the Super Bowl, a story about a leaked OpenAI advertisement quickly gained traction online, only to be definitively debunked by the company itself. Screenshots from a now-vanished Reddit thread depicted a disgruntled employee who supposedly leaked a full commercial. The video appeared to feature actor Alexander Skarsgård alongside a sleek, orb-like device with accompanying earbuds, hinting at what many speculated could be OpenAI’s first foray into consumer hardware. The narrative was compelling, suggesting internal strife and a major product reveal, but it was entirely fabricated.
OpenAI leadership was quick to label the story as false. Company president Greg Brockman took to social media to call it “fake news,” while a spokesperson confirmed the entire episode was “totally fake.” A closer examination of the source reveals significant holes in the story. The Reddit account responsible for the original post, which has since been deleted, was a very new profile. Archived records show that just last year, the person behind that username was advertising bookkeeping services in Santa Monica, a far cry from working on a high-profile Super Bowl campaign for a leading AI firm.
This was not a simple, spur-of-the-moment prank. Evidence suggests a coordinated effort to plant the false narrative across multiple platforms. Tech commentator Max Weinbach shared screenshots of an email he received a week prior to the game, offering payment to promote a tweet about a non-existent OpenAI hardware teaser starring Skarsgård. The offer reportedly included an actual payment of over $1,100. Meanwhile, an AdAge reporter found her name attached to a fabricated headline, and OpenAI’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kate Rouch, mentioned an “entire fake website” created to lend credibility to the hoax. The operation demonstrated a surprising level of premeditation and resources, aiming to create a believable illusion of a major corporate leak.
(Source: The Verge)
