\n A long-simmering rivalry between two of the world\u2019s biggest AI companies was on public display this week as Anthropic and OpenAI took swings at one another online.\n <\/p>\n
\n But the tensions run deeper than a social media spat. The public drama underscored what\u2019s at stake in the fast-moving artificial intelligence race: how AI is regulated, the job market, the economy and massive amounts of money.\n <\/p>\n
\n A series of new Super Bowl ads from Anthropic on Wednesday set off a chain of events. The ads sent a clear message: The company won\u2019t put advertisements in its Claude chatbot, a declaration that came shortly after OpenAI said ads were coming to ChatGPT. OpenAI executives, including Sam Altman, quickly hit back and accused Anthropic\u2019s ads of being misleading and criticized their competitor\u2019s business model. (OpenAI plans to run its own SuperBowl ad this weekend. )\n <\/p>\n
\n The rivalry runs deep. Anthropic\u2019s founders are former OpenAI employees who left over disagreements about the ChatGPT maker\u2019s direction, approach to safety and pace of AI development. While ChatGPT has become a household name, Anthropic\u2019s Claude is a favorite among software engineers, who say Claude Code and Claude Cowork have completely changed their industry. OpenAI launched its own coding tool, called Codex, and this week announced more business tools, including a new platform to manage AI agents called Frontier.\n <\/p>\n
\n Experts say AI could change the way people live and work; the tiff between two of the industry\u2019s biggest players shows how different visions for those changes can be.\n <\/p>\n
\u2018Betrayal\u2019 and \u2018Violation\u2019<\/p>\n
\n Anthropic on Wednesday unveiled a series of ads, two of which will air during the Super Bowl, titled \u2018Betrayal,\u2019 \u2018Deception,\u2019 \u2018Treachery\u2019 and \u2018Violation.\u2019 In one ad<\/a>\u202f, a man asks an older woman how he can communicate better with his mother. In the soothing yet robotic tone and cadence of an AI chatbot, the woman starts giving advice before seamlessly launching into an advertisement for a \u201cmature dating site that connects sensitive cubs with roaring cougars.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The spots, which ends with a message about how \u2018Ads are coming to AI, but not to Claude\u201d are a clear swipe at OpenAI\u2019s decision to bring ads to its popular chatbot.\n <\/p>\n \n Altman took note, calling the ads \u201cdishonest\u201d and \u201cdeceptive\u201d in a post on X, adding that the ads didn\u2019t accurately portray how ads will work on ChatGPT. Then he took a swipe at Anthropic\u2019s business model, saying they serve \u201can expensive product to rich people.\u201d Unlike that company, Altman wrote, \u201cwe also feel strongly that we need to bring AI to billions of people who can\u2019t pay for subscriptions.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Anthropic has defended its business model before. Speaking at the World Economic Forum last month, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said the company doesn\u2019t \u201cneed to maximize engagement for a billion free users because we\u2019re in some death race with some other large player.\u201d That\u2019s because Anthropic makes money from large business contracts and paid subscriptions.\n <\/p>\n \n At its core, the rivalry is also about who will shape the future of AI. Amodei, known for writing lengthy essays about AI\u2019s nature and direction, has portrayed Anthropic as being the AI company focused on safety. But Altman on Wednesday framed that focus as one about control.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201c[T]hey block companies they don\u2019t like from using their coding product (including us), they want to write the rules themselves for what people can and can\u2019t use AI for, and now they also want to tell other companies what their business models can be,\u201d Altman wrote. \u201cWe care a great deal about safe, broadly beneficial AGI (artificial generative intelligence), and we know the only way to get there is to work with the world to prepare.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n In an interview, OpenAI\u2019s Vice President of Global Affairs Chris Lehane said the company is taking such a public stance on Anthropic\u2019s ad because \u201cthere\u2019s a really important underlying principle at stake here.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n OpenAI\u2019s logic: Computing is expensive, and advertising helps keep products free for consumers. It\u2019s a business model that\u2019s propelled companies like Meta and Alphabet to become tech behemoths.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe actually are using advertising to make sure we\u2019re expanding the democratic access to (ChatGPT),\u201d Lehane said. \u201cAnd so sure, if you want to question advertising, fine, but you\u2019re effectively questioning democratic access.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Anthropic, which also offers a free version of Claude declined to comment. It directed CNN to a blog post<\/a> about its decision not to put ads in Claude.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cBeing genuinely helpful is one of the core principles of Claude\u2019s Constitution<\/a>, the document that describes our vision for Claude\u2019s character and guides how we train the model,\u201d the post reads. \u201cAn advertising-based business model would introduce incentives that could work against this principle.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Amodei regularly warns<\/a> about the risks posed by AI and those in charge of it \u2013 including CEOs like himself.\n <\/p>\n \n AI companies \u201ccould, for example, use their AI products to brainwash their massive consumer user base, and the public should be alert to the risk this represents,\u201d he wrote<\/a> in January. \u201cI think the governance of AI companies deserves a lot of scrutiny.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n And, of course, there\u2019s also the money.\n <\/p>\n \n The Wall Street Journal reported last week that OpenAI is racing toward a public listing in the fourth quarter of 2026, Anthropic is also said to be planning an IPO by the end of 2026.\n <\/p>\n