OpenAI took influencers into the wild to teach them about ChatGPT
The experience was “thoughtful,” some influencers said.
Image by Cybernews
- OpenAI hosted influencers at a luxury New York resort to promote its AI tools, drawing public criticism.
- Critics called the nature-focused trip hypocritical because AI growth increases demand for energy-intensive data centers.
- Online backlash linked the campaign to fears that data center expansion could harm rural communities and natural spaces.
- The controversy shows growing public concern over AI companies marketing creativity while facing environmental scrutiny.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
OpenAI just took “creative techie” influencers to a luxury natural resort while NIMBYs are fighting to protect their homes amid data center expansion.
All-expenses-paid trips for content creators aren’t exactly uncommon, as brands spend upwards of thousands of dollars on influencers to make content promoting their products.
But one brand trip didn’t sit too well with the public.
OpenAI recently sent a handful of “creative techies” to upstate New York to #touchgrass and get back to nature. The irony is lost on no one.
The influencers who attended the cozy AI vacation were ripped apart by real people stating the obvious: Why would you go on a nature trip with a company that’s killing the planet?
Why did OpenAI have a brand trip?
OpenAI hosted a luxury “summer camp” for adults at the Wildflower Farms resort in upstate New York.
The resort features a range of sleeping spots, with the cheapest cabin costing roughly $1,750 to the most expensive 2-bedroom meadow cottage priced at around $4,233 per night, according to Wildflower Farms.
Influencers were hosted, fed, and taught by OpenAI so the tech company could show its latest tools, like ChatGPT Work, the very tool that got CEO Sam Altman in trouble recently.
The trip was apparently meant to be an educational experience while also helping market its newer tools, according to Business Insider.
The group participated in activities, including a visit from a beekeeper and some custom OpenAI swag.
OpenAI gives a potential glimpse into the future
As influencers shared their experiences at the OpenAI event, engagement came rolling in, but maybe not the kind of engagement they wanted.
A general trend on Instagram shows high engagement in the comments section compared to low likes on posts.
This is because many Instagram users appear to have thoroughly disliked the idea of influencers promoting OpenAI in this manner.
One attendee, Nat Lucy, shared a curated Instagram carousel of her time at OpenAI’s “Summer Camp,” which she captioned, “Officially letting my AI assistant do the work so I can enjoy more of all this goodness.”
This didn’t go down well.
“If you love AI so much, go live near a data center then,” said one Instagram user.
Another person’s comment serves as a morbid reminder of the grim future we could face if data center growth and AI aren’t properly curtailed.
“$2,000 a night. Seems about right. If we continue down this path, only the ultra wealthy and their sycophants will be able to have access to the highly curated nature that remains.”
“Looks like a nice spot for a data center,” said another user.
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Visiting future data center sites isn’t cute
Redditors were quick to call out the hypocrisy of OpenAI’s brand trip.
The US has 8 times as many data centers as any other country, with roughly 4,500 as of July 2026, making up 38% of the world’s data centers, according to Programs, a tech education company.
While OpenAI doesn’t have its own dedicated AI data centers, the company is known to piggyback off massive tech corporations like Microsoft and Nvidia or build in collaboration with companies like Oracle and Softbank.
But this could soon change, as OpenAI announced Project Camellia, a 3.2 gigawatt AI data center in Effingham County, Georgia.
While New York was the first to pass a bill pausing data center construction, and other states are looking to pass similar bills, Redditors speculate that rural areas are likely to be hit by data center expansion when the time comes.
Particularly as demand for data centers is expected to triple by 2030.
Nothing thoughtful about this brand trip
One creator, Grace McCarrick, said that, not knowing what to expect from an OpenAI brand trip, she felt the group “learned so much” and that “the entire thing feels thoughtful.”
McCarrick uses the word “thoughtful” multiple times to describe the stay, the people, and even the seating plans, which is clearly intentional.
Whether she was paid to use this word specifically is unclear, but it feels very on brand for what tech companies are trying to achieve through marketing.
A distinct pattern in tech bro marketing was identified by The New Yorker back in March, with AI companies honing in on physical sensations, such as taste.
OpenAI’s marketing arguably projects what people fear the most regarding AI – that AI is destroying natural spaces and creativity through AI slop, among other things.
By commodifying taste and rural areas, OpenAI is only making the case for its technology worse.
