By Ilayaraja Subramanian
Publication Date: 2026-02-18 23:25:00
American artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic drew applause – and a surge in users – this month for clever advertising that poked fun at its competition.
In the commercials, an AI assistant clumsily interrupts the conversation to pitch products like shoe inserts and dating services. “Advertising is coming to AI,” the Super Bowl spots warned, but not to Anthtropic’s own chatbot Claude.
The campaign quickly gained traction because it addressed people’s concerns that incorporating advertising into the AI platforms that many of us have come to rely on and trust could lead to a blurring of the line between helpful advice and paid influence.
While this concern is understandable, it overlooks how advertising already works in much of the digital world.
In many ways, ads based on our interactions with AI aren’t much different than the types of targeted advertising that already dominate search engines, social media feeds, and e-commerce platforms.
And if transparent…
