eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
OpenAI is reportedly considering launching an X-like social media platform, according to The Verge. If this plan comes to fruition, the social media site would make OpenAI even more of a rival to X, which is owned by Elon Musk, a former board member at OpenAI. It would also position OpenAI to more directly compete with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, but is lagging behind in the AI space.
What Altman has said about an OpenAI social app
In late February, Altman alluded to the possibility of an OpenAI social media platform. He reposted a news story announcing the launch of the Meta AI app, writing “ok fine maybe we’ll do a social app” on X. He then replied to his own post and added “lol if facebook tries to come at us and we just uno reverse them it would be so funny.”
While Altman’s comments may have sounded like a joke or a passing idea, The Verge reports that the AI company is now in the early stages of exploring this possibility. The social app prototype is allegedly a social feed that would showcase ChatGPT’s image creation feature, and Altman has reportedly been asking outsiders for feedback on it.
Few specifics are known about the project beyond that, and there is no estimated timeline or potential launch date. OpenAI declined to comment on it publicly, but an anonymous source at the company did confirm the details of The Verge article with CNBC.
Social app would likely heat up Altman/Musk rivalry
If OpenAI does indeed launch its own social app, that would position the AI company as a direct competitor of existing social media apps. It would also reverse the usual course of technological advancement. Most social media websites, which have been around for years, are now attempting to bolt AI tools onto their existing platforms. But OpenAI would be an AI company launching social media after developing its own AI model, a departure from the usual timeline.
Launching a social media app would no doubt intensify OpenAI’s rivalry with X.com. A few months ago, Sam Altman publicly rejected Elon Musk’s offer to buy OpenAI and now appears to be trying to create a social app that would directly compete with X. Musk has not yet commented on the possibility of OpenAI launching its own social media website.