OpenAI’s Super Bowl ad celebrates human creativity

OpenAI has made its ad debut with a film that celebrates major human technological milestones, from the discovery of fire to the moon landing to the era of Generative AI. The ad pitches its flagship product ChatGPT which has had an eventful year in the cultural zeitgeist of the world and was aired at the Super Bowl 2025.

 The video was also released on YouTube accompanied by the caption: “Every idea, every breakthrough, every leap forward—begins with a single starting point. What will you create next?”

The video features stippling animation, celebrating human creativity that propelled the growth of the species like the discovery of fire, the invention of the wheel, the growth of commerce through agriculture and industrialisation, the invention of the X Rays, the advent of television and eventually, Generative AI.

Interestingly, the ad has been made by human professionals with OpenAI’s Sora used for ideation.

The ad film has received mixed reactions from users on YouTube.

“This commercial was more expensive than Deepseek,” said a user, taking a jibe at the company.

“Whoever is behind these ads is awesome. Visuals are perfect!” raved another commentator.

“What was the point of this video?” asked another.

“This is awesome! I love the concept, lots of great easter eggs in here,” wrote another.

Some were concerned that the ad doesn’t speak out to people who are not tech enthusiasts and does little to introduce itself to the average Joe.

Others argued that the ad is a positioning piece designed to show off its applications and not indulge in any scaremongering.

The film strays from the usual Super Bowl formula of celeb-driven ads and extravagant production budgets. Instead, it positions itself as the next evolutionary step in human technology and an inevitability that has to be embraced.