OpenAI's Hudson Valley 'Summer Camp' for creators backfires

OpenAI took about 30 influencers to Wildflower Farms, a luxury resort in New York's Hudson Valley where rooms can top $2,000 a night, for a trip it branded 'Summer Camp.' The creators dined on farm-to-table food, sat through a beekeeping session, and went home with branded canvas bags and jars of honey. Business Insider reported the retreat was tied to the launch of ChatGPT Work.

The comments turned quickly. Across TikTok, Reddit, X and Instagram, people called the trip 'dystopian' and 'morally bankrupt' and accused OpenAI of greenwashing. One critic described it as a 'propaganda trip' meant 'to take this technology that is getting a lot of pushback and sanitize it through aesthetically beautiful content creation.' The company is building data centres across the US at speed and is reported to be close to a $500bn deal for a data centre in Ohio.

The retreat is part of a bigger push. At least 34 creators have posted sponsored content for OpenAI, and top AI companies are offering some influencers five to seven figures to promote their tools. 'They're coming in hot with these long-term budgets,' Becca Bahrke, CEO of Illuminate Social, told Business Insider. Longer partnerships mean recurring cash for creators, typically several posts spread over a few months.

The reporting stops short of naming a per-creator payment for the Wildflower trip or a total cost for the event.