- OpenAI is building a ChatGPT-based social network.
- The move escalates the rivalry with Musk and Meta.
- The platform aims to boost AI training with user data.
According to The Verge, OpenAI is reportedly working on a social networking platform in the early stages and could be stepping on Elon Musk’s X’s turf as a direct competitor. This follows the company’s recent GPT-4.1 announcement, which includes the GPT-4.1 mini and GPT-4.1 nano, and its broader ambitions in the AI chatbot space.
OpenAI Social Prototype Already in Development Phase
Multiple sources familiar with the matter told The Verge that the social network project is already underway, and a working prototype exists. In its early form, this reportedly has a feed focused on ChatGPT’s image generation powers. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is understood to be actively soliciting feedback on the concept, and the initiative is still in flux. Yet, it’s unclear if the platform will debut as a standalone app or as a part of ChatGPT, which became a hit in global download charts last month.
Tensions between Altman and Musk reach a high point as the development surfaces. In February, Musk made an unsolicited bid for OpenAI for $97.4 billion, to which Altman responded, in sharp terms, ‘No thank you, but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion should you wish.’
It may also point to OpenAI’s attempt to take on Meta, as it works on its own AI assistant app and embeds a social feed. However, upon news that Meta was planning to launch a chatbot competitor to ChatGPT, Altman posted a cryptic message on X: “OK, maybe we’ll do the social app.”
OpenAI Seeks Real-Time Training Data
OpenAI would use real-time user data to train its neural networks. Industry insiders claim a proprietary social platform could provide that data. Like Musk’s Grok, Grok gets data from x, while Meta gets data via user interaction to help its Llama AI models.
People are jealous of the Grok integration with X,’ says an anonymous source from one of the premier AI research labs to The Verge. “Seeing as how people will get a crazy tweet to go viral by asking it to say something stupid.”
The OpenAI social network is still in its formative stages, but the development suggests that the company’s growth in the new domain is a proxy for its involvement in other areas, like shaping the future of AI and the platforms where we create and experience AI content.
