$14 million Super Bowl ad compares ChatGPT to the wheel and electricity

"All progress has a starting point."
By
Christianna Silva
 on 
ChatGPT l;ogo
Credit: Photo Illustration by Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

When you think of ChatGPT, do you think of eerie crocodile swamp noises and amorphous blobs in a vast, empty, white space?

Honestly? I kind of do.

And apparently so does the advertising team that made ChatGPT's Super Bowl ad. According to the Verge, the ad cost about $14 million.

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ChatGPT's ad premiered in the middle of the second quarter of the 2025 Super Bowl and started — you guessed it — with eerie crocodile swamp noises and amorphous blobs in a vast, empty, white space. Then vague commercial pop comes in as the blob shifts into multiple blobs that make up a caveman, then fire, a wheel, people riding horses, corn growing, a ship sailing the ocean, a train, a lightbulb, a human skeleton, an airplane, DNA, a live television show, a man walking on the moon, the internet, and, finally, modern users ostensibly asking ChatGPT questions.

"Summarize this article," a voice requests. "Help me practice asking for a raise," another voice says. "Act as my sleep coach," another voice says. "What bird is this?" a voice asks.

"All progress has a starting point," white writing says over a black background.

The comparison is clear: ChatGPT wants you to think the creation of generative AI is as big a technological advancement as fire, the wheel, or electricity.

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Christianna Silva
Senior Culture Reporter

Christianna Silva is a senior culture reporter covering social platforms and the creator economy, with a focus on the intersection of social media, politics, and the economic systems that govern us. Since joining Mashable in 2021, they have reported extensively on meme creators, content moderation, and the nature of online creation under capitalism.

Before joining Mashable, they worked as an editor at NPR and MTV News, a reporter at Teen Vogue and VICE News, and as a stablehand at a mini-horse farm. You can follow her on Bluesky @christiannaj.bsky.social and Instagram @christianna_j.


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