Anthropic president talks debut Super Bowl ad, future of AI and what it means for kids
Artificial intelligence is making an appearance during Super Bowl LX on Sunday in the form of a new ad campaign from Anthropic.
The AI giant unveiled an exclusive first-look at its debut Super Bowl spot on "Good Morning America" Wednesday.
The tongue in cheek ad highlights how the company's AI assistant, Claude, will not come with advertisements, as a man sitting on a couch across from what appears to be a therapist asks how he can improve communication with his mom.
"Great question. Improved communication with your mom can bring you closer," the personified AI responds.
"Or, if the relationship can't be fixed, find emotional connection with other older women on Golden Encounters, the mature dating site that connects sensitive cubs with roaring cougars," the AI therapist adds, to the man's befuddlement.
The ad doubles down on the Anthropic's commitment to keep its AI interactions ad-free.
"This really isn't intended to be about any other company other than us," Daniela Amodei, president of Anthropic, told ABC News' Rebecca Jarvis of the big game spot. "People are sometimes uploading private or confidential information to their AI tool, and to us, it just didn't feel like the respectful way to treat our users' data."
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose company recently announced plans to start testing ads for some of its U.S.-based ChatGPT users, shared his thoughts on Anthropic's new Super Bowl ad in a post on X on Wednesday.
"Our most important principle for ads says that we won't do exactly this; we would obviously never run ads in the way Anthropic depicts them. We are not stupid and we know our users would reject that," he wrote in part, adding that he had seen the Super Bowl spot and thought it was "funny."
Amodei, a mom of two, co-founded the company alongside her brother and CEO Dario Amodei, after leaving OpenAI in 2021. She said safety features, especially for children, are top of mind as she thinks about the future of AI.
Anthropic does not allow users under 18 to use its AI assistant.
"Probably like most parents, I feel a mixture of things," Daniela Amodei said when asked for her thoughts on kids growing up in a world with artificial intelligence. "When I look at my kids, I think, 'Wow, it would be amazing if this technology just enabled them to live healthier, happier lives.'"
She added, "I think on the other side, there's still a lot of work for us to do from a societal perspective to make sure that we're developing the technology thoughtfully, safely."
Amodei's brother, Dario, recently made headlines for a lengthy essay he wrote, titled "The Adolescence of Technology," where he laid out the potential risks and remedies for AI.
"I think it should be clear that this is a dangerous situation," he wrote in part, adding that "humanity needs to wake up."
Speaking with "GMA," Daniela Amodei said that "in the absence of requirements around safety and guard rails, Anthropic, at least ourselves, thinks it's important to talk about, openly, what are we doing to mitigate risks."
As more young people begin to interact with AI chatbots, and with parents concerned about their children's relationships with them, Amodei said the topic is "one, that I think, frankly, the industry as a whole has just not been talking about and grappling with enough."
"Kids brains are still developing," she said. "So the idea that kids under age 18 should maybe just have limits or parental controls on their abilities to interact with the models directly feels like a good first step."
Asked if she would support legislation that installs guardrails around kids' AI use, Amodei said Anthropic has already spoken at the state level in California and New York "about the need for regulation, including on topics related to child safety."
"We're excited about the potential for this at the federal level as well," she added.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to include comments from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
