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EP017 · 12 Feb 2026

No Ads in Sight

Two companies. Same week. Opposite bets.

EP017: No Ads in Sight

12 Feb 2026 · 13:22

0:00
13:22
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

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