As the Chiefs and Eagles traded blows on the field, the AI industry’s heavy hitters duked it out during the commercial breaks.
Driving the news: OpenAI aired its first-ever TV ad last night during the Super Bowl, while its rivals Google and Meta also took advantage of the big game's ~117 million viewers to show off their AI tools. At US$8 million for a 30-second spot, the ads didn’t come cheap.
Why it’s happening: OpenAI has grown organically thanks to the popularity of ChatGPT, but as rivals catch up, advertising has become more of a priority. The startup just brought in its first chief marketing officer last year.
Why it matters: So far, the AI race has largely centred around releasing new features as quickly as possible. Now, with so many products out there, AI companies are leaning on more traditional marketing to separate themselves from competitors.
- Convincing more people to use, and ideally pay, for AI products is a big part of companies offsetting the high costs of developing the tech.
- Last year, AI companies' ad spending hit US$332 million — more than double what they spent in 2023.
Bottom line: The overarching sentiment of this year's ads was how AI is nothing to be afraid of, a message that (so far) most aren’t buying. According to a recent Leger poll, two-thirds of Canadians are scared of AI becoming a part of their daily lives.—LA