Super Bowl LX is nearly here, with the Seattle Seahawks taking on the New England Patriots. While Bad Bunny will be the star of the halftime show, AI could be the star of the commercial breaks, much like crypto was a few years ago.

Last year’s Super Bowl featured a Google Gemini ad that fumbled a Gouda cheese stat, and this year’s game is already slated to include an ad for Anthropic’s AI platform that takes jabs at its competitors, namely OpenAI. AI-generated ads could make an appearance, too. 

Super Bowl LX is set to kick off at 6:30PM ET/3:30PM PT on Sunday, February 8th, and is being broadcast on NBC and Peacock.

• AI-generated ads dropped the ball at this year’s Super Bowl
• Ring advertised its neighborhood surveillance network.
• AI.com promises agents or something.
• Pokémon 30.
• Mr. Beast and Rainbolt pop up with Super Bowl ad contests.
• T-Mobile and Coinbase’s Super Bowl ads used the Backstreet Boys in very different ways.
• Pepsi snags the polar bear for an apparently AI-free ad.
• Anthropic’s Super Bowl ad has a change that made it less directly about OpenAI and ChatGPT.
• OpenAI’s Super Bowl ad claims “You can just build things” with Codex.
• Pixar previews Hoppers.
• SpaceX brings Starlink to the Super Bowl broadcast.
• A space crab made of rocks would die for Ryan Gosling in the final Project Hail Mary trailer.
• From Crypto.com to AI.com.
• Alexa Plus tries to kill Chris Hemsworth in Amazon’s Super Bowl ad.
• Sam Altman responds to Anthropic’s ‘funny’ Super Bowl ads
• Anthropic’s first Super Bowl ad dunks on ChatGPT.
• Don’t expect any Kalshi or Polymarket ads during the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl 2024, the Puppy Bowl, and Nickelodeon’s slime-filled broadcast came and went as Taylor Swift watched Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs eke out a win against the San Francisco 49ers. And while all that happened, the biggest collection of commercials anyone ever wants to watch played out once more.

Some of the biggest commercials were movie trailers. The first Deadpool & Wolverine trailer gave the briefest glimpse of Hugh Jackman, finally wearing the yellow and black suit that made Wolverine famous. We also saw the first trailers for the film version of Wicked and one for a Twister sequel called Twisters.

Commercials were light on tech this year — we saw a little AI, a little cybersecurity, and no national crypto ads. Apple Music sponsored the Usher halftime show, and an ad for the service featured Tim Cook sending Ludacris possibly grumpy text messages. The Vision Pro didn’t make an appearance, though. I’m conflicted about Patrick Stewart singing along to Creed’s “Higher,” but Paramount Plus’ Super Bowl commercial is probably a net good.

Apart from traditional over-the-air and cable broadcasts, the game was also streamed live on Paramount Plus, YouTube TV, Fubo, and Hulu Plus Live TV, which came with the usual quality issues for some.

• The latest Shot on iPhone video goes behind the scenes of Usher’s halftime show.
• Super Bowl was “most-watched telecast in history.”
• It’s not just you: Alicia Keys’ Super Bowl halftime show got changed for YouTube
• Larry David thinks his FTX Super Bowl ad in 2022 was a prettyyyy, prettyyy big mistake.
• Beyoncé’s new music is coming to break Verizon’s network.
• Sir Anthony Hopkins gets back into his most famous role.
• Forever a sucker for cowboy robots.
• The Fall Guy trailer has everything.
• The new Twisters trailer is a storm chaser’s dream.
• The trailer for Wicked hits all the right notes.
• The first Deadpool & Wolverine trailer is one big joke about Marvel’s past
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes gets a new trailer.
• “The future is in good hands.”
• Now I am become death, destroreo of worlds.
• Doritos made the best action sequence I’ve seen in months.
• The Quiet Place Day One trailer, distilled.
• Tim Cook, Usher superfan?
• Squarespace gets a Martin Scorsese film under its belt.
• Google showcases AI accessibility in a new ad.
• “We throw the child.”
• What do Zach Braff, Donald Faison, and Jason Momoa have in common?
• Is this a day in the life of Christopher Walken?
• Microsoft brings AI to the Super Bowl.
• Yeah!

A crane shot slowly sweeps down toward a massive, billowing rose-red cape attached to someone playing an equally red grand piano. As the camera closes in on the figure, you realize it's Alicia Keys, playing the descending triplets that begin "If I Ain't Got You," one of her earliest and biggest hits. Her voice, as smooth as ever, eases in with a shortened version of the hums that begin the original recording, then she starts belting out the chorus lyrics… and her voice cracks immediately.

That's how Keys' surprising (and brief) cameo during Usher's Super Bowl 2024 performance kicked off if you were watching live. But those who didn't watch …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Stellantis revealed its new Ram 1500 REV electric truck with an ad during the Super Bowl yesterday, and it's not looking quite like the lean-roofed, futuristic brute concept that the automaker shared last month.

The preproduction Ram 1500 REV now looks very similar to the current gas-powered Ram pickup trucks on the road today. Even the interior, including the infotainment screen, would look wholly familiar to recent Ram owners. Stellantis' design direction for the REV echoes what Ford did with its F-150 Lighting electric pickup, which looks very similar to its combustion engine counterpart as well.

The Ram 1500 REV will be available start …

Read the full story at The Verge.