OpenAI Denied a Viral “Dime” Device Ad: What the Clip Actually Shows

The 2026 Super Bowl featured advertising from several AI companies. OpenAI ran an ad for Codex, while a separate video circulated online with a claim that the company had pulled a hardware commercial. OpenAI denied that claim; the video is not evidence of an OpenAI device announcement.

The clip shows actor Alexander Skarsgård looking at a reflective, stone-like object while wearing metallic earpieces. Berman says the design resembles what he imagines an AI device might look like. The image establishes what appears in the clip, not who made it or whether the object is a functional product.

I have long preferred earbuds to glasses as an AI interface, because they allow a person to talk to and hear an assistant. Audio alone would not give the assistant a view of its surroundings, however, so I imagine an additional device with vision, microphones and perhaps other sensors.

In the video, Skarsgård looks at the object, hesitates and eventually picks it up. Berman interprets the scene as curiosity mixed with uncertainty, and notes the words “dime” and “almost time” at the end. Those words do not establish a product name.

OpenAI communications executive Lindsay McCallum Rémy called the supposed leak fake. The original Reddit post claimed to come from a frustrated employee and alleged that a futuristic ad was replaced at the last minute; Berman also questions the story. Neither the employee identity nor the alleged substitution is established.

The post framed the supposed change as a response to Anthropic advertisements criticizing ads in ChatGPT. That narrative is part of the disputed claim, not evidence of OpenAI’s marketing decisions. [Marketing Brew reported](https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2026/02/11/ai-bowl-ad-reception-openai-anthropic-feud) that OpenAI said the clip had no connection to the company; it also reported confirmation from the actor’s representative that the footage was real, while its creator remained unclear.

Turning to hardware design, I see a major challenge in competing with the smartphone. A phone already has a screen, cameras and microphones, and Apple and Android control the ecosystems on which people rely. Replacing it would be a major undertaking for any new entrant.

I think Apple is well positioned because the iPhone provides a powerful computer in the pocket and AirPods offer an intimate audio interface. An assistant that can speak and listen would still need a way to see the real world. This is my assessment of a possible design, not a description of a confirmed OpenAI product.

Berman shows OpenAI president Greg Brockman rejecting the circulating story. He speculates about whether the denial could conceal a real project, but provides no evidence for that possibility; the denial and the unsupported rumor should not be treated as equally established.

Berman says the actor and footage look real and wonders what the clip was made for. The actor’s representative later confirmed the footage to Marketing Brew, but its purpose and origin were still unclear in that report. Authentic footage alone does not connect it to OpenAI.

Berman also discusses separate reports about a rumored ear-worn device called Sweetpea, with behind-the-ear modules, a main unit, a smartphone-class chip and possible Siri integration. These are unverified reported specifications, not an OpenAI product announcement. Depending on an iPhone, he argues, could create platform risk for the device maker.

Another social-media claim described Dime as the consumer name, but the alleged document and name are not independently established here. OpenAI has confirmed that [the io team merged with it and that Jony Ive and LoveFrom took on design responsibilities](https://openai.com/sam-and-jony/); that confirmation does not validate the clip, the name or its supposed specifications. Berman closes by asking whether viewers would buy an AI device in such a form.