OpenAI ran its first influencer brand trip over the weekend, and the internet turned on the people who went. According to TechCrunch AI, the company flew a handful of creators to a luxury retreat in upstate New York it called “Summer Club,” complete with farm-to-table dinners, beekeeping, wellness activities, and classes on getting more out of OpenAI’s products. The videos looked polished and easygoing. The comment sections did not.
What stands out here is the gap between what OpenAI wanted and what it got. The company aimed for soft, educational content. Instead it handed critics a fresh target.
What actually happened
Creators posted about building websites, a painting workshop, and behind-the-scenes tips for using OpenAI tools. TechCrunch AI reports that one purpose of the trip was to teach attendees how to use the newly released ChatGPT Work, which helps draft documents and presentations.
OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri framed it as part of a broader marketing push to show people practical ways to use ChatGPT. “Creators are an important part of our community and how people get information and learn about our products today,” he said, adding that the company welcomes “healthy debate as AI becomes more prevalent.”
The attendees got a different reception. Per TechCrunch AI:
- One creator drew comments accusing her of selling her soul “for a nice hotel room.”
- Another was asked to film a get-ready-with-me while touring a data center.
- A third appeared to delete her trip video entirely, while keeping posts that didn’t name OpenAI.
One influencer wrote on LinkedIn that she figured people “would be interested in the behind-the-scenes tips and tricks,” and didn’t grasp how many followers were anti-AI. “I didn’t for one second consider it would be controversial,” she wrote.
Why this one hit a nerve
OpenAI isn’t the first lab to court creators. TechCrunch AI notes that Anthropic reportedly hosted an influencer dinner for Claude, and Microsoft Copilot ran an influencer trip to the Super Bowl back in February. Neither sparked anything like this.
The timing explains a lot. OpenAI is set to sign a $500 billion deal to build a data center in Ohio, right as the environmental and social cost of AI infrastructure dominates the conversation. Holding a luxury retreat in nature, while facing questions about data center power and water use, read as tone-deaf to plenty of people. Commenters also pointed to OpenAI’s $200 million Department of Defense contract as another reason the trip stung.
One person who left a critical comment told TechCrunch AI the moment matters. “These posh influencers’ events are, again, giving people ammunition to have negative opinions,” she said. “The world is on fire. It’s not a great time to brag about your $5,000-a-night suite.”
Why it matters for the industry
This is a preview of a shift in how AI companies market themselves. OpenAI hired “celebrity whisperer” Charles Porch from Instagram in February as its first VP of global creative partnerships, a clear signal that creator marketing is now core strategy, not a side experiment. The influencer trip is that strategy in action.
The lesson for anyone building or promoting AI products: public sentiment is now a live risk, not background noise. The same tactics that sell sneakers or skincare carry different weight when the product itself is politically charged. Association with AI can turn a free trip into a reputational liability for the creator, and a PR headache for the brand.
Expect more of these campaigns, and more backlash, as labs compete for mainstream attention. The companies that read the room will pair their creator push with a real answer on cost, power, and responsibility. The ones that don’t will keep handing critics ammunition.
For the full account, including the influencer and commenter interviews, see the original report at TechCrunch AI.