Anthropic aired a spicy ad during this year’s Super Bowl, skewering competitor OpenAI’s decision to cram ChatGPT with ads for users who don’t pay for a subscription.
“Ads are coming to AI,” the ad’s tagline reads. “But not to Claude.”
The marketing campaign appeared to hit a nerve, sending OpenAI CEO Sam Altman — who called ads a “last resort” a mere two years ago — into a tailspin in which he accused Anthropic of “doublespeak.”
Needless to say, it’s a hot-button topic in the AI industry as companies continue to look for new ways to recoup some of their gigantic losses. Just last week, OpenAI researcher Zoë Hitzig announced her resignation in a New York Times essay, warning that the company may use ads to manipulate “users in ways we don’t have the tools to understand, let alone prevent.”
Ads in AI tools have become so controversial that other players in the space are second-guessing as well. As the Financial Times reports, AI startup Perplexity, which became one of the first generative AI companies to introduce ads back in 2024, alongside paid subscriptions, has now abandoned advertising altogether.
The company cited fears over eroding user trust, calling it quits on ads after several months of winding them down.
“A user needs to believe this is the best possible answer, to keep using the product and be willing to pay for it,” an unnamed Perplexity executive toldthe FT, saying that the “challenge with ads is that a user would just start doubting everything… which is why we don’t see it as a fruitful thing to focus on right now.”
“We are in the accuracy business, and the business is giving the truth, the right answers,” another executive added, arguing that ads are “misaligned with what the users want.”
It’s a surprising 180-degree turn. Why the two executives refused to be named in the FT‘s reporting is unclear, but the decision suggests that the company is treading very carefully.
It’s also a sobering assessment of the significant potential for user blowback if other AI companies follow suit and introduce ads, like OpenAI or Google. For now, some of the biggest players in the AI space are offering extremely similar chatbots whose capabilities overlap considerably. The fear: ads could easily trigger a user exodus, further undermining AI companies’ attempts to differentiate themselves.
For now, Perplexity’s main source of revenue is paid subscriptions, which range from $20 to $200 a month. Anthropic is similarly relying on subscriptions that range from $20 to $100 a month for regular consumers.
But whether either company will be able to convince investors that subscriptions are enough to make up for far bigger expenses remains to be seen.
At a valuation of $18 billion, Perplexity lags far behind the AI industry lead. But its latest move highlights a growing rift as companies ponder how to climb out of a gigantic — and deepening — financial hole.
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