Sam Altman defends ChatGPT ads, calls Anthropic dishonest: Here’s what happened

The rivalry between the titans of Silicon Valley just moved from the server room to the stadium. Following a Super Bowl Sunday that saw both OpenAI and Anthropic vying for the public’s attention, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman took to X to fire a scathing counter-offensive against Anthropic’s recent advertising campaign.

In a lengthy post, Altman didn’t just defend OpenAI’s pivot toward ad-supported models; he launched a direct assault on Anthropic’s business philosophy, labeling the company “authoritarian” and accusing them of “doublespeak.”

First, the good part of the Anthropic ads: they are funny, and I laughed.

But I wonder why Anthropic would go for something so clearly dishonest. Our most important principle for ads says that we won’t do exactly this; we would obviously never run ads in the way Anthropic…

— Sam Altman (@sama) February 4, 2026

Also read: Anthropic mocks OpenAI’s idea of bringing ads to ChatGPT, Sam Altman responds

A deceptive depiction?

The friction began with an Anthropic Super Bowl ad that reportedly critiqued the intrusive nature of AI-driven advertising – depicting a future where AI interactions are cluttered with commercial bias. Altman was quick to dismiss the portrayal as a straw man argument.

“I wonder why Anthropic would go for something so clearly dishonest,” Altman wrote. He clarified that OpenAI’s primary principle for ads is to avoid the very “deceptive” format Anthropic depicted. “We are not stupid and we know our users would reject that,” he added, framing Anthropic’s critique as a “deceptive ad to critique theoretical deceptive ads that aren’t real.”

AI for the masses vs. products for the rich

Altman’s defense pivoted into a populist argument, drawing a sharp line between the two companies’ target demographics. He positioned OpenAI as the champion of “democratic access,” while painting Anthropic as an elitist boutique.

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Altman claimed that more people in Texas use ChatGPT for free than the total number of Claude users in the entire U.S. He argued that while Anthropic serves an “expensive product to rich people,” OpenAI is committed to bringing AI to billions of people who cannot afford high-priced subscriptions. For those who want an ad-free experience, Altman noted that ChatGPT Plus and Pro remain the “clean” alternatives, but insisted that an ad-supported tier is essential for global agency.

The “authoritarian” accusation

Perhaps the most biting part of Altman’s post was the shift from business models to corporate ideology. He accused Anthropic of seeking to control the AI ecosystem by “writing the rules themselves” and blocking competitors, including OpenAI, from using their coding products. “One authoritarian company won’t get us there on their own… It is a dark path.”

Altman framed OpenAI’s path as one of “broad, democratic decision-making” and “resilient ecosystems,” contrasting it with what he perceives as Anthropic’s desire to dictate how other companies should operate. Amidst the corporate sparring, Altman took a moment to celebrate a win for OpenAI’s latest developer-centric tool, Codex. Since its launch earlier this week, the app has already seen 500,000 downloads.

By shifting the narrative toward “builders” and away from “controllers,” Altman is signaling that the next phase of the AI war won’t just be about who has the smartest chatbot, but who provides the most accessible tools for creators. “This time belongs to the builders,” Altman concluded, “not the people who want to control them.”

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