Sam Altman Responds to Anthropic Ad Campaign(twitter.com)
twitter.com
Sam Altman Responds to Anthropic Ad Campaign
https://twitter.com/i/status/2019139174339928189
43 comments
My read:
Sam's goal is to create viral products. This has always been his goal. While his interest in and passion for AI are almost certainly genuine, he famously hedged his bets before committing to OpenAI up to the point of being ambiguously fired from his previous job. ChatGPT was one of the greatest viral products of all time. His subsequent attempts to create virality haven't been working in any real, durable way.
Enter Claude Code. It went viral, not in the awe-inspiring world-changing way that ChatGPT did, but in a way that allowed it to decisively overwhelm OpenAI's advantage in some very valuable niches. It wasn't born out of a search for a viral product, but rather out of an intellectual obsession with safe, steerable AI systems -- an obsession that could've just as easily ended up producing no products at all. It's the kind of obsession that can't be replicated if the only motive is virality.
So yeah, this is going to bother him a lot. He's defending ads while his competitor's product is having its "iPhone moment." You know this is part of the raw emotional driver because he ends his defense of ads by talking about Codex app downloads and saying he "believe[s] Codex is going to win," implying that significant doubt exists that he feels the need to correct.
Sam's goal is to create viral products. This has always been his goal. While his interest in and passion for AI are almost certainly genuine, he famously hedged his bets before committing to OpenAI up to the point of being ambiguously fired from his previous job. ChatGPT was one of the greatest viral products of all time. His subsequent attempts to create virality haven't been working in any real, durable way.
Enter Claude Code. It went viral, not in the awe-inspiring world-changing way that ChatGPT did, but in a way that allowed it to decisively overwhelm OpenAI's advantage in some very valuable niches. It wasn't born out of a search for a viral product, but rather out of an intellectual obsession with safe, steerable AI systems -- an obsession that could've just as easily ended up producing no products at all. It's the kind of obsession that can't be replicated if the only motive is virality.
So yeah, this is going to bother him a lot. He's defending ads while his competitor's product is having its "iPhone moment." You know this is part of the raw emotional driver because he ends his defense of ads by talking about Codex app downloads and saying he "believe[s] Codex is going to win," implying that significant doubt exists that he feels the need to correct.
>One authoritarian company won't get us there on their own, to say nothing of the other obvious risks. It is a dark path.
It warms my heart to hear that Sam is against authoritarianism. Hopefully he doesn't hang out with anyone that supports that kind of thing.
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/the-real-story-behind-sam-altman...
It warms my heart to hear that Sam is against authoritarianism. Hopefully he doesn't hang out with anyone that supports that kind of thing.
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/the-real-story-behind-sam-altman...
Actual ad since it's not available in the tweet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQRu7DdTTVA
Oh dear. The ad doesn’t directly reference openai at all and for those of us out of the loop on all of this we wouldn’t have read it as such. I had no idea openai were considering this.
I think Sam would have been far better off to let this lie. I’m not at all sure of the nature of the ads coming in chatgpt but by responding so personally and aggressively to what appears to be sillyness feels like they hit a bit close to home?
I think Sam would have been far better off to let this lie. I’m not at all sure of the nature of the ads coming in chatgpt but by responding so personally and aggressively to what appears to be sillyness feels like they hit a bit close to home?
Yeah I just don't think the average person is going to even get what they are talking about and they may not really care about ads in exchange for free-to-use ChatGPT. Most ChatGPT users are just using it as a search and summary tool. And they were seeing ads before via Google so what difference does it make?
While the Anthropic ads might be a hit amongst nerds, it won't compel normies to use Claude over ChatGPT, and in fact, it may just be damaging to AI adoption overall as it presents bad taste examples of how corruptible it all is.
While the Anthropic ads might be a hit amongst nerds, it won't compel normies to use Claude over ChatGPT, and in fact, it may just be damaging to AI adoption overall as it presents bad taste examples of how corruptible it all is.
Yea, the response really sounds ultra defensive, almost like Anthropic nailed exactly what they're planning to do, and it's now Damage Control time...
They're making a big promise here, that very few tech companies have been able to keep in the past.
Maybe there's a predictive market gamble starting about how long it will take Claude to follow suit if OpenAI starts making 9 figures in ad revenue.
Maybe there's a predictive market gamble starting about how long it will take Claude to follow suit if OpenAI starts making 9 figures in ad revenue.
Counterpoint being that Slack, for example, for all its faults, does not have ads in its chats.
If Anthropic is positioned as "thing for professionals to do professional work" then I think you just avoid this issue entirely. Fee for service. OpenAI trying to be the thing everyone is using won't work in that model, though.
If Anthropic is positioned as "thing for professionals to do professional work" then I think you just avoid this issue entirely. Fee for service. OpenAI trying to be the thing everyone is using won't work in that model, though.
Member when today's biggest advertising company used to claim no ads as their USP? Tegridy members...
An ad about not serving ads.
It signals a commitment which will help me make a decision.
I do pay extra for privacy and quality.
Enshittified LLMs are not something I’m interested in.
I do pay extra for privacy and quality.
Enshittified LLMs are not something I’m interested in.
Reminds me of those fake GI Joe PSAs from 20 years ago.
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Deleting paragraphs 2 and 3 and tweaking paragraph 4 could have made this a great and informative reply by Altman.
That would favorably contrast ChatGPT's products, pricing, and market size with Claude's.
Instead, well, it's not a good look.
That would favorably contrast ChatGPT's products, pricing, and market size with Claude's.
Instead, well, it's not a good look.
Discussion (53 points, 77 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46894151
I would have run this one past ChatGPT before hitting send.
Great idea! A tweet providing thoughtful commentary on a competitors ads will surely set the record straight, people always respect CEOs that are willing to publicly talk about touchy topics. Would you like me to draft one for you?
I have my LLMs tweaked so that they rarely if ever blindly agree with me. I guess that might not be how a CEO operates. But I really do prefer OPFOR LLMs I can argue with to help me sort my brain out.
or maybe thought anthropic claude?
> We are building safe and beneficial AGI, but will also consider our mission fulfilled if our work aids others to achieve this outcome.
Maybe it's just me, but sometimes it feels like Sam does not actually want to aid others in achieving this outcome.
Maybe it's just me, but sometimes it feels like Sam does not actually want to aid others in achieving this outcome.
Sam is an entrepreneur trying to play an industrialist game. He will lose. OpenAi will be sold to Microsoft on the profit side and control of the open source board will effectively be awarded to Elon. OpenAi had their chance to oust him, but his c-suit judo was too strong.
Of course the first version of the ad will be separated very clearly, just like how Google search started.
While I found the golden dating app the funniest anc creepiest, credit loan ad was the most viewed for a reason: it's the most profitable ad from the scenarios, and it will come in a few years.
I write all this as a mostly happy OpenAI subscriber (my only wish is still being able to have a sticky legacy o3 model as my default for my Pro subscription everywhere).
While I found the golden dating app the funniest anc creepiest, credit loan ad was the most viewed for a reason: it's the most profitable ad from the scenarios, and it will come in a few years.
I write all this as a mostly happy OpenAI subscriber (my only wish is still being able to have a sticky legacy o3 model as my default for my Pro subscription everywhere).
> But I wonder why Anthropic would go for something so clearly dishonest.
Mr. Dishonest accusing others of being dishonest.
> More importantly, we believe everyone deserves to use AI and are committed to free access, because we believe access creates agency.
I think you meant "psychological dependence", not agency.
Mr. Dishonest accusing others of being dishonest.
> More importantly, we believe everyone deserves to use AI and are committed to free access, because we believe access creates agency.
I think you meant "psychological dependence", not agency.
I don’t care for Sam Altman but so far I have been impressed with Codex and at least for our use right now its performing much better than Opus 4.5. Of course this will probably change again but the larger context window with Codex is god sent for us.
It feels like working with a professional. It just keeps churning until the work is done, and actually is pretty damn compact with token usage. Definitely lowest output tokens to value of the frontier models.
The other HN thread on this:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46892904
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46892904
The response is good if this means ads like that will never happen.
Google though... they make fake ad Emails so fake ad Replies seems exactly like their style.
Google though... they make fake ad Emails so fake ad Replies seems exactly like their style.
I honestly think OpenAI needs a new leader, they are so lost. They have no vision, it seems like they are just always chasing and not leading anymore.
Anthropic has a clear vision, they want to build the best agentic models so they can build products for humans to use like Claude Cowork, and Claude Code.
Google has a clear vision, they want to build the smartest model possible to give to consumers to use and to implement into their products.
OpenAI doesn't have any vision. GPT 5.2 alone has 5 different version that are all essentially the same. They are slow, take forever to do anything, and aren't smart in any area. They released Sora then just forgot about like everyone did. They released Atlas and forgot abotu like everyone did. They release GPT Image which honestly is probably the main reason they still have users they have.
They honestly might be in trouble, Oracle is fucking themselves over with the amount of debt they have to build out infrastructure for them. Microsoft and Nvidia are backing away from putting more eggs in the basket.
It actually no surprise they are trying to find every way to make money because if they don't they might be the first to fall.
Anthropic might not be winning the consumers, but it almost like you don't want to win consumers yet until you figure out how to make enough money to support them as Anthropic and OpenAI don't have business producing 100b in net income every year.
Anthropic has a clear vision, they want to build the best agentic models so they can build products for humans to use like Claude Cowork, and Claude Code.
Google has a clear vision, they want to build the smartest model possible to give to consumers to use and to implement into their products.
OpenAI doesn't have any vision. GPT 5.2 alone has 5 different version that are all essentially the same. They are slow, take forever to do anything, and aren't smart in any area. They released Sora then just forgot about like everyone did. They released Atlas and forgot abotu like everyone did. They release GPT Image which honestly is probably the main reason they still have users they have.
They honestly might be in trouble, Oracle is fucking themselves over with the amount of debt they have to build out infrastructure for them. Microsoft and Nvidia are backing away from putting more eggs in the basket.
It actually no surprise they are trying to find every way to make money because if they don't they might be the first to fall.
Anthropic might not be winning the consumers, but it almost like you don't want to win consumers yet until you figure out how to make enough money to support them as Anthropic and OpenAI don't have business producing 100b in net income every year.
Surely hit a nerve.
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Now I want to find and watch the Anthropic advertisement.
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Learning: Marketing and Legal team are not in sync with each other.