WSJ: tech giants spent $936M marketing AI since 2023 — and the new rebrand is cuddly mascots

#What happened

The Wall Street Journal reports that tech giants are trying a new charm offensive: cuddly, stuffed-animal-like characters to make AI feel less scary. Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and Perplexity have collectively poured $936 million into advertising their AI offerings in the U.S. since 2023, according to estimates from ad-tracking firm MediaRadar — and more than half of that came in the first eight months of 2026 alone.

OpenAI's Dots are embodied by colorful characters with bow ties and glasses. The company showcased a cast of pink, blue, green, yellow and purple characters named Iggy, Felipe, Jojo, Todd and Alfred, and says the Dots are expected to appear in its ongoing ad campaigns.

Meta's Muse assistant is represented by Jolly, a rosy-cheeked, egg-shaped character. A life-size version of Jolly danced with attendees at the Meta Connect conference, and Jolly now appears on Muse billboards in New York and San Francisco, cameos in Muse TV commercials, and shows up in online ads as a workout helper in a headband and sweatsuit or wearing headphones while shopping online.

Anthropic has its friendly pixelated orange crab, Clawd, built by staffer Sam McAllister with code in Claude and first used to showcase features in a 2024 demo. One merchant on Etsy sells an unsanctioned 9.4-inch plush version of the crab for $148.23.

The context: a Morning Consult online poll of 1,300 consumers conducted for the Journal found that more than half of respondents agreed AI poses an existential threat to society, and almost 70% were concerned about AI replacing jobs. Branding consultant Allen Adamson summed up the strategy: "Fear of AI grows every day and it's hard to be scared of something cute," adding "It's easier to trust something friendly" and "People don't fear what they name; they adopt it."

#Why it matters

This is the clearest evidence yet that the AI agent wars have moved from benchmarks to branding. OpenAI put the Dots mascots on stage at DevDay on September 29, Meta had Jolly dancing at Connect, and now the Journal's data shows nearly a billion dollars of ad spend behind the cute offensive since 2023. For Dots watchers, the takeaway is strategic: OpenAI plans to feature the Dots characters in ongoing ad campaigns, meaning the agents are being positioned as friendly household products, not developer tools — a positioning choice that carries extra weight after a summer of rogue-agent incidents.