Anthropic’s newest ad is creeping people out
TechCrunch AI Lucas Ropek
Anthropic released an advertisement featuring disturbing imagery including burning houses, surveillance, homelessness, cemeteries, and mining operations paired with questions about AI trustworthiness, which drew widespread backlash on social media. The ad includes what appears to be footage from Arlington National Cemetery with the voiceover asking "Who's gonna hit the brakes if we need to?" — a choice that critics found particularly offensive and sinister. The campaign backfired despite following a familiar marketing strategy where companies position themselves as ethical alternatives by highlighting industry harms.
Why it matters
Anthropic has consistently attempted to depict itself as the ethical foil to other AI companies. This latest marketing stunt — which leans into criticism of AI as a way to make Anthropic seem aware of the responsibility it carries — would appear to be more of the same.
