Show Notes
## SHOW NOTES
OpenAI started showing ads in ChatGPT on Sunday. Two days later, Anthropic expanded Claude's free tier with features that used to require a paid plan — and signed off with three words: "No ads in sight." This is the week two AI companies made opposite bets on what a free user is worth.
**In this episode:** - How ChatGPT's new ads actually work — conversation-based targeting, $60 CPMs, and the privacy architecture underneath - Anthropic's choreographed counter-punch: the ad-free pledge, the Super Bowl mockery, and yesterday's free tier expansion - Sam Altman's "rich people" dig and what each company's accusations reveal about the accuser - What Claude's free users actually got — and what they didn't
**Links:** - OpenAI — Testing ads in ChatGPT: https://openai.com/index/testing-ads-in-chatgpt/ - Anthropic — Claude is ad-free: https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-is-a-space-to-think - CNBC — Anthropic executive on spending, ads, and the Cowork sell-off: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/11/anthropic-vs-openai-ads-spending-criticism.html - TechCrunch — ChatGPT rolls out ads: https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/09/chatgpt-rolls-out-ads/
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