Super Bowl AI Wars, SpaceX’s Moonshot, & A $70M Domain
This Week in AI Newsletter: 2/9/2026
Super Bowl:
Anthropic’s first-ever ad mocked OpenAI’s plan to sell ads in ChatGPT: “There is a time and place for ads. Your conversations with AI should not be one of them.” This was a toned down version of their previous copy of the ad which was “Ads are coming to AI. But not to Claude.” More here.
OpenAI debuted its own Super Bowl spot showcasing Codex, its software coding product, positioning ChatGPT as a creative tool for builders. The ad marks OpenAI’s second consecutive Super Bowl appearance. More here.
Anthropic is reportedly days away from closing a $20 billion-plus funding round at a $350 billion valuation, making it one of the most valuable private companies in the world. The round, led by Coatue and GIC, doubled from its original $10 billion target. More here.
Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek paid $70 million in crypto for the ai.com domain, the priciest domain purchase in history, and launched a consumer AI agent platform during a Super Bowl LX commercial. The platform lets users create personal AI agents that can send messages, trade stocks, and execute actions across apps; many people saying that it is simply a OpenClaw wrapper. More here.
Apollo Global Management is nearing a $3.4 billion deal to lend money for purchasing Nvidia chips that will be leased to Elon Musk’s xAI, which recently merged with SpaceX. More here.
The EU charged Meta with breaching antitrust rules by blocking third-party AI assistants from WhatsApp and threatened interim measures to force the company to open access for competitors. Meta said there was “no reason for the EU to intervene.” More here.
Australian AI infrastructure startup Firmus Technologies secured a $10 billion debt package from Blackstone and Coatue to build AI training and inference data centers across Australia, one of the country’s largest private credit financings ever. More here.
Elon Musk announced SpaceX will prioritize building a “self-growing city” on the Moon over Mars, with plans achievable in under a decade. More here.
A Reuters investigation found reports of botched surgeries and misidentified body parts linked to AI-assisted surgical navigation called TruDi Navigation System made by Acclarent. More here.
US companies are accused of “AI washing,” citing artificial intelligence as the reason for job losses when the real causes may be post-pandemic restructuring, tariffs, or profit maximization. Economists say the claims are “implausible” given how recently AI tools arrived. More here.