What Happened?
It is rumored that OpenAI is developing a social platform similar to X, which is currently in the early prototype phase and may integrate ChatGPT’s image generation capabilities, allowing users to share AI-generated content. This move will position OpenAI in direct competition with Elon Musk’s X platform and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, further intensifying the already existing tensions and competitive dynamics between Altman and these two tech leaders.
A key motivation for developing a social application is to acquire unique real-time user data, which is crucial for training and improving its AI models, in order to catch up with X (Grok) and Meta (Llama), who currently have advantages in data.
Is OpenAI Venturing into Social Media?
The large language model developer OpenAI is reportedly working on a brand new social media network, which could lead to direct competition with Elon Musk’s X platform and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms. According to a report by The Verge on April 15, citing anonymous sources, OpenAI is developing a “social network similar to X.” It is understood that the project is still in its early stages, with an internal prototype focusing on integrating ChatGPT’s image generation tools and a social feed, presumably to allow users to share AI-generated images with a broader audience.
Sources indicate that it is currently unclear whether OpenAI will launch this social network as a standalone application or integrate these features into the existing ChatGPT. The tremendous success of ChatGPT has positioned OpenAI among the world’s most influential tech companies. With its first-mover advantage in the AI race, the company has attracted significant investment. By February 2025, ChatGPT’s weekly active user count had reached 400 million, a remarkable increase from 50 million at the beginning of 2023. For a company whose tools can be used for content creation and building professional chatbots, venturing into social media seems like a natural development direction.
However, this move will undoubtedly intensify the already strained relationship between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his former colleague Musk. The competition between the two entrepreneurs stems from OpenAI’s commercialization efforts and allegations that Altman has strayed from the company’s original non-profit mission at its founding. Reports indicate that Musk, along with a group of investors, proposed a $97.4 billion acquisition of OpenAI in February of this year, but it was evidently rejected by Altman, who responded on social media with “no thank you.”
Imitating the X/Grok and Meta/Llama Models?
In addition to X, OpenAI’s actions also escalate its competition with Meta. It is reported that Meta plans to add social feed features to its upcoming independent AI assistant application. When reports surfaced months ago regarding Meta’s efforts to build a competitor to ChatGPT, Altman had retorted on X, saying, “Okay, maybe we’ll also do a social application.”
Developing a social application also presents a significant strategic consideration: providing OpenAI with a unique, real-time data source to aid in training its AI models. This is precisely the advantage that X and Meta already possess—Musk’s Grok leverages content from the X platform to generate results (Musk has recently even merged X and xAI into the same company), while Meta utilizes its vast user data to train the Llama model.
Individuals working in other large AI labs have noted, “The integration of Grok and X makes everyone jealous, especially the way people use it to say silly things to create viral tweets.” Internal sources also mention that one of the ideas behind OpenAI’s social prototype is to use AI to help people share better content. Of course, OpenAI currently has numerous projects underway, and whether this early-stage social media plan will come to fruition remains uncertain. However, the existence of the project indicates that as external expectations for its future growth remain high, OpenAI is actively considering various expansion possibilities.
References: The Verge, Cointelegraph