Meta launches AI optimism ad set to song about human extinction

Meta’s latest ad opens with a stark black-and-white close-up of an eye, capturing the anxiety of scrolling through alarming headlines about AI stealing jobs, isolating society, and triggering a global crisis.

“Some people will have you believe AI is going to make us feel less connected. That it’s going to leave us behind,” a voiceover says. “We couldn’t disagree more.”

The video then transitions to vibrant color, cycling through scenes of people opening their eyes and smiling: a couple dancing on a rooftop pointing at a rainbow, teens swimming in a lake, a child playing in a field, and friends reuniting after time apart.

“Call us optimists. Call us dreamers. Call us whatever the hell you want. But we’re betting on people, and we like those odds,” the voiceover continues. “The future is for everyone.”

That’s a comforting message — conveniently convenient for a company investing hundreds of billions in AI to revolutionize humanity. Yet, the ad’s strangest element isn’t that these joyful moments are shared via Instagram. It’s that the soundtrack is David Bowie’s “Five Years.”

If you haven’t heard it, I urge you to listen, read the lyrics, and consider the message. To me, it’s clear, but since I studied poetry in college, I tested this theory with my brother — a blockchain analyst who loves Claude Code and doesn’t read for pleasure — to see if he grasped the song’s meaning.

“I thought climate change at first, then zombie apocalypse, then an asteroid hitting the earth,” he told me. He’s right. The song depicts humanity panicking after learning they face mass extinction in five years.

Image Credits:Texts from my brother, a consenting participant in this literary experiment

If you’re unfamiliar with Bowie’s work, the track might sound uplifting, matching the ad’s positive tone. The selected segment likely uses the word “people” repeatedly, obscuring the song’s true context without prior knowledge.

But consider the lines immediately preceding this section:

News had just come over
We had five years left to cry in
News guy wept and told us
Earth was really dying
Cried so much his face was wet
Then I knew he was not lying

We “had five years left to cry in” and the “earth was really dying.” The outlook is grim.

It’s hardly reassuring to promote AI as a world-improver while playing a song about the apocalypse. Yet, this contradictory musical choice seems to have slipped past everyone at Meta, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

“Meta has always believed in giving people the power to share, connect, and shape your world in the ways you want,” he wrote alongside the video. “As we enter this next wave with AI, we continue to believe the future is for everyone. We’re focused on giving every person the tools to reach your full potential and making sure the benefits of technology are distributed to everyone.”

Then again, tech leaders aren’t known for literary analysis. Meta’s Oculus once gave new hires copies of the sci-fi novel “Ready Player One,” set in a dystopia where a VR tech company becomes tyrannical. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has cited inspiration from the movie “Her,” which warns against relying on AI for emotional support. Palantir, an AI surveillance firm, is named after the seeing stone in “Lord of the Rings” used by the Dark Lord to spy on enemies. Elon Musk recently complained about the “accuracy” of Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey,” a story featuring sea monsters, magic, and divine intervention. These examples highlight the value of studying the humanities.

Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale

Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus

— Alex Blechman (@AlexBlechman) November 8, 2021

Meta isn’t alone in its recent promotional missteps. Instead of racing to build AGI, top AI firms seem to be competing for the creepiest ad. Weeks ago, Anthropic released its own eerie video. As my colleague Lucas Ropek noted:

The ad begins with a video of a burning house (not exactly a heartwarming start) before pivoting to a series of still images. These images include a crowd of people being surveilled by facial recognition, a homeless person sleeping on the street, rows upon rows of tombstones in a cemetery, and what appears to be a group of laborers toiling in a mine where (presumably) raw materials for smartphones are being dug up.

Meanwhile, a voice-over track features different people asking questions like “Can AI be trusted?” and “Who’s gonna hit the brakes if we need to?”

Anthropic aims to show it understands AI’s societal risks, positioning itself as the trustworthy choice for responsible development. However, the ad’s mood aligns more closely with Bowie’s “Five Years.”

i thought this was satire, kept looking for the handle to be spelled c1audeai or something https://t.co/4AVBA93Z27

— Sam Altman (@sama) July 14, 2026

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded to the Anthropic ad, “I thought this was satire, kept looking for the handle to be spelled c1audeai or something.”

As these companies vie for control over public perception of AI, their efforts seem ineffective. A recent Pew survey found that only 16% of Americans believe AI’s impact on society over the next twenty years will be positive, while 40% expect a negative impact. Better luck next time, Meta.