How upset is Sam Altman about Anthropic’s Super Bowl ads for Claude? Upset enough to call them “authoritarian,” in the same way a tween would call their parents “fascist” because they wouldn’t give them permission to go to a slumber party.
But daaaaamn, are they memorable and funny.
There are four such ads, each one featuring two actors, with one playing the part of the user, and the other playing the part of ChatGPT. The acting is perfect, with the user clearly in need of answers, and ChatGPT with slightly delayed responses delivered in a saccharine tone and a creepy smile at the end (“Give me your creepiest fake smile!” must’ve been part of the audition process). All the ads end with a snippet of the rap version of Blu Cantrell’s 2003 number, Breathe, which features one of the best beats from that era.
I’ve posted the four ads below, from my least to most favorite. Each one features a common LLM use case.
Here’s Treachery, where a student is asking ChatGPT to evaluate her essay:
Deception features ChatGPT providing advice on the user’s business idea:
Violation’s user wants a six-pack — the muscle kind, not the beard kind — and is about to regret telling ChatGPT his height:
And my favorite, Betrayal, starts with the user trying to get closer to his mom, and ends on a cougar-riffic note:
OpenAI CEO and owner of the world’s most punchable voice Sam Altman is, as the kids say, crashing out over these ads, calling them “dishonest” (they’re more hyperbolic) and “authoritarian” (which is Altman himself being hyperbolic):
- Entrepreneur: Sam Altman Rants About Anthropic’s ‘Dishonest’ and ‘Authoritarian’ Super Bowl Ads
- TechCrunch: Sam Altman got exceptionally testy over Claude Super Bowl ads
- The Verge: Sam Altman responds to Anthropic’s ‘funny’ Super Bowl ads
- Just Jared: Sam Altman Responds to ChatGPT Diss in Claude Super Bowl Commercials