OpenAI CEO publicly slammed Anthropic’s ad campaign as deceptive and dishonest in a post on X, while acknowledging that some aspects were funny.

Anthropic aired Super Bowl ads that mocked OpenAI’s plan to place ads in ChatGPT, teasing, 'Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.'

Altman accused Anthropic of doublespeak and attempting to critique deceptive ads through a deceptive campaign, arguing OpenAI’s stance is to promote broad AI access and avoid ads on ChatGPT Plus/Pro.

OpenAI remains a major player in private AI funding, pursuing what could be a $100 billion round, highlighting intense competition for capital.

Altman emphasized OpenAI’s democratization mission, supporting Codex and developer tools to foster a builder-focused ecosystem with widespread app development and lower user costs.

ChatGPT saw a 2.7% rise in daily active users after the Super Bowl; Google Gemini grew 1.4%, with Claude maintaining leadership on certain metrics.

Anthropic’s Claude gained traction post-ads, with site visits up 6.5% and daily active users up 11%, helping Anthropic enter the top 10 free iOS apps ahead of Meta, Gemini, and OpenAI.

Anthropic’s Claude experienced notable engagement after a Super Bowl ad that mocked ChatGPT’s ads, contributing to a broader shift in user activity.

Altman contrasted pricing models, arguing for broad, free access to AI and criticizing Anthropic for limiting access and trying to control business models.

OpenAI positions itself on affordable AI for billions, countering Anthropic’s approach which targets wealthier users and imposes restrictions on usage and business models.

Anthropic closed a $30 billion funding round at a $380 billion post-money valuation, significantly higher than its previous round.

The Super Bowl ads intensified the OpenAI–Anthropic rivalry as they chase enterprise clients and top engineers, with both signaling IPOs later in the year.