Two of the most popular AI startups are battling for attention at the Super Bowl this weekend with splashy marketing efforts, but with very different approaches. OpenAI bought a Big Game ad, a source close to the situation confirmed to Ad Age; meanwhile, Perplexity will be on the ground in New Orleans with an activation centered around a custom-wrapped Tesla Cybertruck, hoping to generate a stir on social media leading up to the game.  

Perplexity was in talks with Fox, the broadcaster of Sunday’s game, for an official commercial, according to Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity chief business officer. Instead, it’s spending about $3 million on the marketing adjacent to the game by filming a social series with sports influencers inside of the decked-out Tesla vehicle. Super Bowl ads this year cost between $7 million and $8 million, Ad Age previously reported. 

“We had the sense that every AI company would have [a Super Bowl spot], so it would be hard to stand out,” Shevelenko told Ad Age. An outside source, who was familiar with the talks, confirmed that Perplexity did indeed hold discussions with Fox, expressing early interest in a commercial. 

OpenAI sealed the deal for a Big Game ad, its first Super Bowl spot and its first major paid advertising campaign.

OpenAI and Perplexity will duke it out at a Super Bowl in which AI will play a bigger role than ever. AI will be heavily promoted in the products on display in commercials from Meta, Google and GoDaddy, among others, while many ad agencies used AI tools, such as ChatGPT and other OpenAI products, to assist in ad production. 

Also read: Inside Super Bowl influencer marketing strategies

AI startups, which are still new to the game, will have a smaller footprint than the tech giants, but OpenAI and Perplexity are leading the pack. Last year, Anthropic had the largest presence among AI startups with a regional ad that lasted a mere five seconds. These smaller companies have an uphill battle in explaining their products compared to larger tech giants. OpenAI’s primary tool is ChatGPT, while Anthropic’s key tool is a chatbot called Claude. Perplexity is both the name of the company and the core search engine platform at its heart.

OpenAI has not released any details about what its ad will look like or when during the game it will appear. The company declined a request for comment.

“This makes so much sense for OpenAI … it’s a real opportunity to develop brand association with a mass audience,” said Nicole Greene, VP analyst for Gartner. The Wall Street Journal first reported on OpenAI’s foray into the Big Game.

OpenAI has grown its marketing arm over the past half-year, led by the hiring of its first chief marketing officer Kate Rouch in December. Rouch, who told Ad Age at the time of her appointment that OpenAI would take a more active approach to advertising, previously served as CMO at Coinbase, where she oversaw the crypto exchange’s viral Super Bowl spot in 2022. OpenAI also recently hired Adam Koppel, a marketer who held stints at agencies Anomaly and 72andSunny, as a creative director. The company has done some rebranding, too, including a new logo it launched this week.

In lieu of an official ad, Perplexity is filming a social series inside its branded Cybertruck that will be parked in New Orleans, just a few blocks away from Caesars Superdome, where the Kansas City Chiefs will play the Philadelphia Eagles. Perplexity has previously used its Cybertruck for small marketing plays because of the attention the vehicles get, Shevelenko said.

Inside the vehicle, celebrity athletes and sports influencers will play trivia games that hinge on using Perplexity’s search engine. Perplexity will then post the content on social media starting today through just before kickoff on Sunday. Guests will include current football players such as Bryce Young, NFL commentators such as Scott Hanson and other sports personalities. 

During the game, Perplexity is running a sweepstakes, in which users who ask the search engine five or more questions will have the chance to win $1 million. The sweepstakes giveaway is included in the $3 million that Perplexity is spending on its Super Bowl marketing, Shevelenko said. 

Contributing: Parker Herren