Meta’s Optimistic AI Ad Draws Attention With Apocalyptic Bowie Song

Meta has launched a corporate advertising campaign presenting an optimistic vision of artificial intelligence, seeking to counter public anxiety that the technology could eliminate jobs and deepen social isolation. The campaign matters because it shows how one of the world’s largest technology companies is trying to reframe AI as a tool for improving daily life and human connection rather than primarily as a source of economic and social disruption.

The new advertisement has attracted attention for using David Bowie’s “Five Years,” released in 1972, as its soundtrack. The song depicts a world confronting the news that Earth has only five years left, giving the campaign’s upbeat message an unexpectedly apocalyptic backdrop. That contrast between Meta’s confidence in an AI-enabled future and Bowie’s countdown to human extinction has made the music choice a central part of the public discussion.