The ad, July 15 -- SAN FRANCISCO - Anthropic has built its reputation by positioning itself as the AI company that takes safety seriously. Its latest advertisement was supposed to prove it. Instead, it has become the most-discussed AI marketing misfire of the year.

"Can AI be trusted?" and "Who's gonna hit the brakes if we need to?" The intended message was that Anthropic grapples honestly with AI's dangers. The reaction suggested viewers saw something else entirely.

"I can't stress enough how fucked up it is that Anthropic is running an ad," one viewer wrote online, citing the juxtaposition of cemetery imagery with questions about AI accountability. "The EAs at Anthropic really must be living in a bubble." The reference to effective al...