As OpenAI is making plans to introduce ads to ChatGPT, competitor Anthropic has promised to keep Claude ad-free. In a blog post today, the company said that there are "many good places for advertising," but a "conversation with Claude is not one of them."
According to Anthropic, including ads in Claude would not be in line with its mission of creating a helpful assistant for work and deep thinking. Anthropic claims that users should not need to second-guess whether an AI is being helpful or "subtly steering the conversation towards something monetizable."
There will be no ads or sponsored links in conversations with Claude, and Claude's responses will not be influenced by advertisers or include third-party product placements.
Our analysis of conversations with Claude (conducted in a way that keeps all data private and anonymous) shows that an appreciable portion involve topics that are sensitive or deeply personal--the kinds of conversations you might have with a trusted advisor. Many other uses involve complex software engineering tasks, deep work, or thinking through difficult problems. The appearance of ads in these contexts would feel incongruous--and, in many cases, inappropriate.
Promising an ad-free experience could encourage people to choose Claude over OpenAI's ChatGPT. In January, OpenAI said that it would start testing ads in the United States for free and Go tier subscribers, though subscribers with higher paid tiers will not see ads. OpenAI claims that ads will be clearly labeled and will not influence the answers that ChatGPT provides, nor will the company provide conversation details to advertisers.
To further reinforce the difference between Claude's ad-free experience and ChatGPT's ad-supported experience, Anthropic plans to run a humorous Super Bowl commercial where a man gets an unwanted cougar dating ad after asking about his mother. "Ads are coming to AI," reads the video's text. "But not to Claude."
Anthropic plans to continue to monetize through enterprise contracts and paid subscriptions, with revenue reinvested in improving Claude. Anthropic will maintain a free tier, and the company says that it may also offer lower-cost subscription tiers and regional pricing in the future if there is demand for it. Claude Pro is priced at $20 per month, which is the same price as ChatGPT's higher-end Plus tier.
An ad-free Claude experience isn't a sure thing forever, as Anthropic gives itself an out in the blog post: "Should we need to revisit this approach, we'll be transparent about our reasons for doing so."
