A side-by-side comparison shows stark differences between Meta and Anthropic's AI ad campaigns

There’s another AI advertising skirmish brewing.

Meta debuted a new ad campaign on Thursday with a spot promising that the “future is for everyone,” complete with fairies and butterflies. “Meta has always believed in giving people the power to share, connect, and shape your world in the ways you want,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote.

It’s hot on the heels of Anthropic’s “hard questions” ad two weeks ago that raised eye-brows with its bleak imagery.

Some AI fans thought that it was overly pessimistic or “doomer,” opening with a house burning to the ground.

Sam Altman wrote on X that he initially thought the ad was “satire” from a fake account.

There’s no direct call-out of Anthropic in the Meta ad, and Meta began working on its campaign long before Anthropic’s ad debuted, a person familiar with the matter said.

Still, its structure is strikingly similar, even if the imagery stands in stark contrast.

AI companies have brawled in ads before, like the Super Bowl battle between Anthropic and OpenAI.

Here a side-by-side comparison (Anthropic’s ad on the left, Meta’s on the right) highlighting the similarities — and key differences.