OpenAI is building a social network?

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Motives and Strategy

  • Many see this as a data play: own a constant stream of fresh human interactions instead of paying or being locked out by X, Meta, Reddit, etc.
  • Others think it’s mainly about finding a new business model and ad inventory as model improvement plateaus and costs stay high.
  • Some frame it as rivalry or retaliation against existing social/AI players, not a carefully considered core strategy.
  • A few argue OpenAI needs more “distribution” and a daily destination, not just an API and chat box.

Proposed Value & Product Concepts

  • Optimistic ideas:
    • An AI-powered “most human” social network that filters bots/spam/AI junk and surfaces real people.
    • LLM-native group chat where humans and bots collaborate, brainstorm, or co-create.
    • A DeviantArt/Tumblr-like space where OpenAI pays for high‑quality training data.
    • Personal AI filters curating feeds to each user’s explicit notion of “quality.”
  • Skeptical replies question how to define “good” content, prevent gaming with AI outputs, and avoid simple “Grok but here” gimmicks.

Spam, Bots, and Identity

  • Strong interest in using AI to detect spam/bots, but doubt it will be better than current ML.
  • Debate over “proof of human” schemes (passports, Worldcoin-style) vs anonymity and privacy risks; concern about creating surveillance honeypots.

AI Slop, Information Quality, and Ethics

  • Worry about a future where feeds are near‑100% AI-generated “slop,” optimized only for engagement.
  • Split views on summaries/“tl;dr”:
    • Critics say it infantilizes users and spreads hallucinations.
    • Defenders say it enables non-experts to learn quickly, if models are accurate.
  • Fears that AI‑curated social networks will deepen echo chambers and become powerful tools for propaganda and emotional manipulation.

Market Saturation & Adoption Skepticism

  • Many question why anyone would join “yet another Twitter clone,” especially one openly designed to harvest training data.
  • Social-graph lock‑in and user fatigue with new platforms are seen as major obstacles.
  • Some think a bots‑only or bots‑heavy network could be weirdly popular; others say the appeal of social media depends on knowing real humans are on the other end.

Implications for OpenAI and AGI Hype

  • Several commenters read this as a sign OpenAI knows AGI isn’t imminent and is pivoting to more conventional Web‑2 style products.
  • Others argue diversification is rational given slowing model gains and fierce competition from other labs.
  • There is visible cynicism: this looks less like a path to “super-intelligence” and more like building an AI‑driven slop feed with ads.