Anthropic and OpenAI escalated their rivalry ahead of the Super Bowl with dueling messages over advertising in AI chatbots. Anthropic launched a campaign warning that ads could infiltrate chatbot conversations, positioning its Claude assistant as ad-free. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman countered that any ads in ChatGPT will be clearly labeled, separated from answers, and designed to preserve user trust, adding that ads can subsidize free access as subscriber growth slows and infrastructure costs rise. The exchange underscores diverging business models in generative AI and revives long-running concerns about targeted advertising and sensitive user queries. It also tests whether ad-supported AI can gain mainstream acceptance—or drive users toward paid, ad-free alternatives.
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