As the first mover in the space, OpenAI has benefitted from early fundraising triumphs, ease of recruiting, and the kind of brand recognition that has effectively made ChatGPT the “Kleenex” of LLMs. But it has also been quicker than its counterparts to make unpopular moves not only into advertising but also AI-generated video feeds and even AI erotica.
This has all left an opening for Anthropic and others like it to benefit from what Meservey calls “underdog privilege.” Though it’s hard to cast a company that was recently valued at $350 billion as a true underdog, these ads undeniably plant an aesthetic flag that could both resonate with tech-skeptical consumers and help recruit in-demand research talent who feel aligned with Anthropic’s mission. “People are very, very tribal,” said Meservey.
Still, it’s a high-wire act that could risk souring consumers on the industry as a whole. After all, ChatGPT isn’t the only chatbot that offers sycophantic answers—and Anthropic now risks appearing hypocritical if it decides to launch advertising on its platform in the future.
Anthropic isn’t the only tech company aware that it’s playing to a hostile audience. A new ad by online prescription company Hims plays off public resentment towards the Silicon Valley elite by depicting ultra-wealthy biohackers as grotesque freaks—before offering the audience access to those same tools. Amazon pulled a similar trick, hiring Chris Hemsworth to imagine a series of dystopian scenarios in which his AI assistant turns into a sci-fi killer.
Only a couple of tech companies took the earnest route, like Google’s heartwarming spot about a mother and young son dreaming up what their new home might look like using its own AI offering, Gemini. OpenAI was another, with an ad about how a family farm is using ChatGPT to carry its business across generations. OpenAI’s ad has racked up 26,000 views, while Anthropic’s most popular Super Bowl ad so far has over 390,000.
