While They Showboat, You Strategize. ☕
The Weekly Tea
Showtime
February 9, 2026 · Monday Money
Good morning. ☕ So — how's everyone feeling after last night?
Super Bowl LX was supposed to be about the Seahawks and the Patriots. But friend — the real game was in the commercial breaks. OpenAI. Google. Anthropic. Amazon. Every major AI company showed up with a $7 million spotlight and 30 seconds to tell America who they are. And they told us everything. I watched AI-generated ads flop in real time. I watched Anthropic take direct shots at OpenAI on national TV. I watched a fake "leaked" OpenAI hardware ad go viral before halftime. And I found five money moves hiding in what they all revealed — including one that might be the biggest I've seen all year.
"The drama tells you what's happening. The strategy tells you how to attract abundance."
Sage Insight
"When the music changes, so does the dance."
— African Proverb
This week? AI companies spent more on Super Bowl ads than most startups raise in a seed round. AI-generated commercials embarrassed themselves on the world's biggest stage. A completely fake OpenAI hardware "leak" went viral during the game. Crypto.com dropped $70 million on the AI.com domain. And while Silicon Valley was fighting over chatbot ads, a stealth startup backed by Peter Thiel just said "the real money isn't even in this room." I found five money moves hiding in their spectacle — and they're yours for the taking.
🧠 Money Move #1
The AI Brand Warfare Strategist
The Drama: Super Bowl LX was AI's coming-out party. OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Amazon all bought Big Game spots — making AI the dominant ad category for the first time, just like crypto was a few years ago. But here's where it got spicy: Anthropic didn't just run an ad. They ran an ad that called out OpenAI's new advertising model. On national television. During the Super Bowl. While OpenAI was literally launching ads inside ChatGPT THE SAME DAY. The audacity was immaculate.
🎬 OpenAI, in confessional:
"We bought a Super Bowl ad AND launched ads in ChatGPT on the same day. Is it ironic? Sure. Is it genius? Also sure. You think Coca-Cola worried about irony when they sponsored the Olympics?"
— checks ad revenue dashboard between quarters
🎬 Anthropic, in confessional:
"We bought a Super Bowl ad to tell 100 million people we're the ones NOT putting ads in your AI. Was it petty? A little. Did it work? Ask our sign-up numbers this morning."
— smooths safety research paper, trying very hard not to gloat
💰 YOUR BAG:
AI brand warfare just went mainstream. These companies spent $7 million per 30-second spot to differentiate themselves, and most of them failed. The AI industry is now in a brand arms race — and almost none of them have brand strategists who understand the AI landscape deeply enough to position effectively. If you understand brand strategy, competitive messaging, or market positioning? The AI industry just showed you they'll spend anything to stand out. And they need someone who can actually help them do it.
💼 THE OFFER:
AI Brand Positioning Audit — help AI-adjacent companies differentiate their messaging from the mega players. Competitive landscape analysis, positioning gaps, and a messaging framework that doesn't sound like everyone else's "responsible AI" press release. $5K–$15K per engagement. The companies that DIDN'T buy Super Bowl ads are watching and wondering how to compete. Be the person who shows them.
💬 Money Move #2
The Human-AI Creative Director
The Drama: AI-generated Super Bowl ads were universally terrible. Svedka ran the first fully AI-generated Big Game commercial and the internet's response was... not kind. The Verge called it "dropping the ball." Every brand that used generative AI for their spot managed to make AI look LESS impressive, not more. On the biggest advertising stage on the planet. With 100 million people watching. The tools are powerful. The creative direction was nonexistent.
🎬 Google, in confessional:
"Remember last year when our Gemini ad fumbled? At least WE used humans to make a bad ad. This year, brands used AI to make bad ads. Somehow that feels worse. Like... the technology is great. The taste? Not yet."
— winces while watching competitors' AI-generated spots, opens Gemini Pro to draft statement
💰 YOUR BAG:
The Super Bowl just proved that AI creative tools without human creative direction produce garbage at scale. The technology is there. The taste is not. Companies are pouring money into AI-powered creative workflows and producing work that embarrasses them on the world's biggest stage. They don't need another AI tool subscription — they need a creative director who understands how to DIRECT AI output. Someone who can bridge the gap between what the tool can generate and what actually moves people. If you have a creative background? This is your moment.
💼 THE OFFER:
Human-AI Creative Direction Retainer — guide teams on integrating AI tools into their creative workflow without losing the human touch. Cover prompt engineering for creative output, quality control frameworks, and the "taste layer" AI still can't provide. $3K–$8K/month retainer. If you've ever art directed, copywritten, or produced creative work — this is the same skill with a very expensive new canvas.
⚡ Money Move #3
The AI Narrative Controller
The Drama: As Super Bowl LX wound down, a "leaked" OpenAI commercial started circulating on Reddit. It showed sleek earbuds and a mysterious shiny orb — an alleged hardware product. The post claimed to be from a frustrated employee. Screenshots spread everywhere. People lost their minds. And then... it turned out to be completely fake. A total hoax. But here's the devastating part — everyone believed it immediately — because OpenAI's actual moves are chaotic enough that a secret hardware product announced via angry Reddit post seemed entirely plausible. When your brand narrative is so out of control that fiction and reality are indistinguishable? That's a five-alarm fire.
🎬 OpenAI, in confessional:
"Okay so someone made up a FAKE ad for us. With FAKE hardware. And literally everyone believed it. I want to be mad but honestly... fair. We've done so many unexpected things that at this point a shiny orb product announcement from a disgruntled employee doesn't even crack the top five weirdest things we've announced."
— calls comms team, puts head in hands, considers therapy
💰 YOUR BAG:
When fake stories about your company are immediately believable, your narrative is broken. And it's not just OpenAI — every fast-moving AI company is one viral hoax away from the same problem. They need narrative controllers. People who can build brand story architecture so clear and consistent that fake leaks are immediately recognizable as fake. This is crisis comms meets brand strategy meets AI literacy — and the companies that need it don't even know they need it yet. Until it happens to them.
💼 THE OFFER:
AI Narrative Audit + Rapid Response Framework — assess a company's brand narrative coherence, identify vulnerability to misinformation, and build a rapid response playbook for viral hoaxes and leaks. $4K–$10K per engagement. If you have experience in PR, communications, journalism, or brand strategy? Every AI company just watched OpenAI get hoaxed on the biggest night of the year. They're wondering if they're next.
🧠 Money Move #4
The Industrial AI Bridge Builder
The Drama: While every AI company was fighting over Super Bowl ad slots, a Peter Thiel and Alexis Ohanian-backed startup called Emanate quietly emerged from stealth as part of a16z's "American Dynamism" push. Their pitch? "So far, most AI benefits have gone to Silicon Valley. We're bringing them to the industries that build America." Manufacturing. Construction. Infrastructure. The industries that actually make things. This isn't another chatbot. This is the signal that the real AI money is leaving the building — and it's heading to the factory floor.
🎬 Small Business Owner (Guest Star), in confessional:
"Wait — so while tech companies were spending $7 million on 30-second ads to sell chatbots to each other... somebody finally remembered that factories exist? And construction sites? And the people who actually make things? It only took them four years."
— shakes head, goes back to running an actual business
💰 YOUR BAG:
This might be the biggest money move I've surfaced all year. While Silicon Valley fights over chatbot market share, the REAL infrastructure money is pouring into industrial AI. Manufacturing, logistics, construction — these industries are desperate for AI integration and have essentially zero Silicon Valley connections. They don't need another app. They need a bridge builder. Someone who can translate AI capability into language and workflows that the people running actual operations can understand and implement. If you have ANY background in manufacturing, supply chain, operations, or trades? You are sitting on a gold mine that most AI consultants can't even see.
💼 THE OFFER:
Industrial AI Readiness Assessment — evaluate one facility or operation for AI integration opportunities, covering workflow automation, predictive maintenance, quality control, and supply chain optimization. $5K–$12K per assessment. The factory owners aren't on Twitter. They're not reading TechCrunch. But they ARE looking for someone who speaks both "AI" and "operations." That person is you.
💬 Money Move #5
The AI Pivot Strategist
The Drama: Crypto.com just dropped $70 million on the AI.com domain — the most expensive domain purchase in history — timed to Super Bowl weekend. Let that number sit with you. Seventy. Million. Dollars. For a URL. The crypto industry that had its OWN Super Bowl moment in 2022 — remember the Larry David ad? — and then crashed spectacularly... is now spending record-breaking money to rebrand as AI. The pivot is so aggressive it should come with whiplash treatment.
🎬 The AI Industry, in group confessional:
"So the crypto people — the SAME ones who crashed after their Super Bowl — just paid $70M for AI.com. And now they're at our table. Do we... welcome them? Guard the silverware? Both? Definitely both."
— collectively side-eyes the new arrivals
💰 YOUR BAG:
When entire industries pivot, the first people who get hired are the strategists who understand both worlds. Crypto companies pivoting to AI. Media companies pivoting to AI. Healthcare companies pivoting to AI. Retail companies pivoting to AI. Every one of them needs someone who can separate hype from actual capability — and build a pivot strategy that doesn't end with another $70M domain collecting dust. If you understand market positioning, digital strategy, or brand transformation? The pivot economy just became your full-time job.
💼 THE OFFER:
AI Pivot Strategy Package — help companies entering the AI space position their brand, evaluate their actual AI capability vs. marketing, and build a credible go-to-market narrative. $4K–$10K per engagement. The companies dropping $70M on domains are proving they'll spend ANYTHING to be seen as AI. Help them earn it instead of just buying it.
📊 The Receipts
- Super Bowl LX AI ads — OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Amazon all bought spots — Source
- AI-generated ads flopped — "Everyone who produced ad spots with generative AI failed" — Source
- OpenAI fake leaked ad — hardware hoax went viral during the game — Source
- Emanate from stealth — Peter Thiel-backed industrial AI, a16z "American Dynamism" — Source
- Crypto.com buys AI.com — $70M, most expensive domain purchase ever — Source
While they're buying the stage, you're building the act.
🎯 The Meta Move — All Three Modules
The Cultural Moment Strategist
Here's what almost nobody is saying out loud: the Super Bowl just became the annual AI industry report card.
The Super Bowl used to be about beer and cars. Now it's a live focus group for AI market positioning. Brand warfare on national TV. AI creative tools embarrassing their makers. Viral hoaxes exposing narrative chaos. Industries pivoting so hard they're paying $70M for URLs. Every single story above happened because AI showed up at a cultural moment — and revealed itself.
The person who can read cultural moments — the Super Bowl, awards season, election cycles, viral moments — and extract the AI business signals hiding in them? That's not a newsletter. That's a practice. That's a retainer. And it runs 52 weeks a year, because every cultural moment is now an AI moment.
💼 THE OFFER:
"Cultural Intelligence Brief" Monthly Retainer — track where AI shows up in cultural moments, extract the business signals, and deliver strategic moves before the news cycle moves on. Super Bowl. Oscars. Election coverage. Viral moments. You become the company's AI cultural radar. $2K–$5K/month retainer. This is literally what The Sip & Click does every week — and you can build your own version of it for companies who need it.
WORD: How to Talk About This Monday
Pick your lane. Use the script:
If you're a Legacy Builder (consultant/advisor):
"Did you watch the Super Bowl ads last night? Every major AI company bought a spot and most of them failed to differentiate. The AI brand wars are officially here — and there's a massive gap for strategists who can help companies position themselves in this landscape. I'm building my practice around that."
If you're an Operator (inside a company):
"Every AI-generated Super Bowl ad flopped last night. The tools are incredible but the creative direction was missing. I think there's an opportunity for our team to own the human-AI creative workflow before our competitors figure it out. Want to brainstorm what that looks like?"
If you're an Optimizer (compliance/process):
"Someone faked a leaked OpenAI product ad during the Super Bowl and it went viral because everyone believed it instantly. If a hoax like that targeted us, would we catch it in time? I want to talk about our narrative control and rapid response process."
If you're an Accelerator (side hustle/freelance):
"A Thiel-backed AI startup just emerged from stealth saying 'the real money isn't in Silicon Valley — it's in the industries that build things.' I updated my LinkedIn this morning to lead with industrial AI consulting. Most AI people are chasing chatbots. I'm going where the real infrastructure money is moving."
⚡ ACTION: Your 15-Minute Money Move
Pick ONE of the five opportunities above. Then run this prompt:
🛠️ The Prompt
Super Bowl LX just revealed 5 AI opportunities: 1. AI brand warfare strategy (every AI company fighting for position) 2. Human-AI creative direction (AI-generated ads flopped badly) 3. AI narrative control (fake leaked ads going viral) 4. Industrial AI consulting (real money leaving Silicon Valley for factories) 5. AI pivot strategy (companies spending $70M on domain names to rebrand) Based on my background in [INSERT YOUR FIELD], which opportunity fits me best? Give me: - Why it matches my experience - One specific offer I could package this week - A LinkedIn headline that positions me for it - The first company or person I should pitch and why Keep it actionable. I have 15 minutes and the Super Bowl news cycle won't last forever.
Run this in Claude or ChatGPT. Copy what resonates. Move on it Monday morning. The news cycle waits for no one.
Monday Hustle 🏃🏾
Your career station. Your sprint. The Super Bowl conversation is LIVE right now — ride it:
Legacy Builders
30 min: Write a LinkedIn post analyzing the AI Super Bowl ad wars. Name the winners and losers. Position the brand strategy gap you can fill. Publish it TODAY while people are still talking about the game.
The Operators
20 min: Send your team a Slack message about the AI-generated ad failures. Suggest a "taste check" for your own AI creative workflows. Be the person who saw the warning before it cost your company.
The Optimizers
15 min: Create a one-page briefing on the OpenAI hoax and what it means for your company's misinformation readiness. Share it with your comms team today. Instant credibility, zero cost.
The Accelerators
10 min: Update your LinkedIn headline to include "Industrial AI" or "AI Creative Direction" or "AI Brand Strategy." The Super Bowl just made these terms searchable. Let the algorithm do the rest.
🚀 Launch Pad
For students, new grads, and career starters — the Super Bowl just gave you the world's best portfolio prompt.
Everyone's talking about the game today. The conversation is live. The takes are flowing. And most of them are surface-level hot takes that'll be forgotten by Wednesday.
Your portfolio project today:
Write a case study comparing how OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Amazon positioned themselves in their Super Bowl ads. What did each ad reveal about the company's strategy? Who won the positioning battle and why? Post it on LinkedIn today with #AIStrategy #SuperBowl while the conversation is still hot. This is the kind of analysis hiring managers actually notice.
Know someone just starting out? Forward this their way. 👋🏾
Now go make Monday count. The game is over. Yours is just starting. ☕
P.S. Want to stop watching AI spectacles and start extracting the strategic intelligence hiding in them? That's exactly what The Oracle Table teaches. Learn more about building your strategic intelligence practice.
📚 Sources & Further Reading
Money Move #1: Super Bowl LX ads: all AI everything — The Verge | From Svedka to Anthropic, brands make bold plays — TechCrunch
Money Move #2: AI-generated ads dropped the ball at this year's Super Bowl — The Verge
Money Move #3: OpenAI's supposedly 'leaked' Super Bowl ad was a hoax — The Verge
Money Move #4: Peter Thiel–backed industrial AI startup emerges from stealth — Fortune
Money Move #5: Crypto.com places $70M bet on AI.com domain — TechCrunch
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