AI Took over the Super Bowl, Accounting for 23% of Ads

Interesting subplot about the Anthropic ads

> Anthropic’s Super Bowl debut, which drew close attention from rivals, illustrated the risks of that convergence. By centering its message on promising not to include ads on Claude, which OpenAI announced it would begin testing earlier this year. The company made a bet that its ad free principles would resonate with audiences more than product familiarity.

> That wager came amid a significant awareness gap. According to an S&P Global 2025 survey of 1,149 respondents, 73% reported using ChatGPT, followed by Google’s Gemini at 41%. Tools like Perplexity and Claude registered in the single digits, with only 7% of respondents saying they use Claude.

> “The vast majority of consumers don’t know what Claude is. Many people aren’t going to really get the whole ‘Oh, we’re comparing ourselves to chatGPT,’” said Williamson.

Anthropic spent a lot of money on a single ad to complain that OpenAI hopes to recuperate some money using ads. Yet everyone else asks themselves, "Who on Earth is Claude, and why is he spending so much money to tell us that?"

Also, I'm crossing my fingers hoping that the ads are only for the free tier. That, to me, would make a lot of sense. Obvious, even.